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The stretch reflex (myotatic reflex), or more accurately "muscle stretch reflex", is a muscle contraction in response to stretching a muscle. The function of the reflex is generally thought to be maintaining the muscle at a constant length but the response is often coordinated across multiple muscles and even joints. [1] The older term deep ...
The spindle is a stretch receptor with its own motor supply consisting of several intrafusal muscle fibres. The sensory endings of a primary (group Ia) afferent and a secondary (group II) afferent coil around the non-contractile central portions of the intrafusal fibres.
A muscle spindle, with γ motor and Ia sensory fibers. A type Ia sensory fiber, or a primary afferent fiber, is a type of afferent nerve fiber. [1] It is the sensory fiber of a stretch receptor called the muscle spindle found in muscles, which constantly monitors the rate at which a muscle stretch changes.
Examples include stretch receptors in the arm and leg muscles and tendons, in the heart, in the colon wall, and in the lungs. Stretch receptors are also found around the carotid artery, where they monitor blood pressure and stimulate the release of antidiuretic hormone from the posterior pituitary gland. Types include: Golgi organ
For example, consider the stretch reflex, in which stretch across a muscle is detected by a sensory receptor (e.g., muscle spindle, chordotonal neurons), which activates a motor neuron to induce muscle contraction and oppose the stretch. During locomotion, sensory neurons can reverse their activity when stretched, to promote rather than oppose ...
Slowly adapting type 1 receptors have small receptive fields and respond to static stimulation. These receptors are primarily used in the sensations of form and roughness. Slowly adapting type 2 receptors have large receptive fields and respond to stretch. Similarly to type 1, they produce sustained responses to a continued stimuli.
Reciprocal inhibition is a neuromuscular process in which muscles on one side of a joint relax to allow the contraction of muscles on the opposite side, enabling smooth and coordinated movement. [1] This concept, introduced by Charles Sherrington , a pioneering neuroscientist , is also referred to as reflexive antagonism in some allied health ...
A gamma motor neuron (γ motor neuron), also called gamma motoneuron, or fusimotor neuron, is a type of lower motor neuron that takes part in the process of muscle contraction, and represents about 30% of fibers going to the muscle. [1] [2] Like alpha motor neurons, their cell bodies are located in the anterior grey column of the spinal cord.