Golgi Tendon RefluxGolgi Tendon Reflux

The Golgi tendon reflex is a normal component of the reflex arc of the peripheral nervous system. In a Golgi tendon reflex, skeletal muscle contraction causes the antagonist muscle to simultaneously lengthen and relax. This reflex is also called the inverse myotatic reflex, because it is the inverse of the stretch reflex. Though muscle tension is increasing during the contraction, alpha motor neurons in the spinal cord supplying the muscle are inhibited. However, antagonistic muscles are activated

Function of Golgi tendon Function of Golgi tendon refluxreflux

The Golgi tendon reflex protects the skeletal muscle from excessively heavy loads by causing the muscle to relax and drop the load.[citation needed] First, as a load is placed on the muscle, the afferent neuron from the Golgi tendon organ fires into the central nervous system. Second, the motor neuron from the spinal cord is inhibited via an IPSP and muscle relaxes. Recently, however, this information has proven to be inaccurate since the GTO cannot create sufficient inhibition.

Contrast to stretch reflexContrast to stretch reflexThe stretch reflex operates as a feedback mechanism to

control muscle length by causing muscle contraction. In contrast, the tendon reflex operates as a feedback mechanism to control muscle tension by causing muscle relaxation before muscle force becomes so great that tendons might be torn. Although the tendon reflex is less sensitive than the stretch reflex, it can override the stretch reflex when tension is great, making you drop a very heavy weight, for example. Like the stretch reflex, the tendon reflex is ipsilateral. The sensory receptors for this reflex are called tendon Golgi receptors, which lie within a tendon near its junction with a muscle. In contrast to muscle spindles, which are sensitive to changes in muscle length, tendon organs detect and respond to changes in muscle tension that are caused by passive stretch or muscular contraction.

StepsStepsA tendon reflex operates as follows:

1 -nerve impulses (action potentials) arise and propagate into the spinal cord along a sensory neuron.

2 -within the spinal cord (integrating center) the sensory neuron activates an inhibitory interneuron that makes a synapse with a motor neuron.

3 -the inhibitory neurotransmitter inhibits (hyperpolarizes) the motor neuron which then generates nerve impulses.

4 -the muscle relaxes and excess tension .