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Responses of Renshaw cells to muscle ramp stretch

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Summary

  1. a)

    Renshaw cells (RC) were recorded during ramp stretch of the GS muscle. In 90% of the analysed cells, the frequency and duration of the phasic response were enhanced by increases in both the length and rate of stretch.

  2. b)

    The tonic response, which was observed in about 30% of the analysed cells, increased at higher stretch lengths.

  3. c)

    After application of the cholinergic blocking agent mecamylamine or after severance of the GS nerve, the Renshaw stretch response was abolished.

  4. d)

    The results lend some support to the hypothesis that RCs are triggered predominantly by large phasic motoneurones. The smaller tonic motoneurones seem to provide some supporting background input to the RCs.

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Author notes

  1. J. Meyer-Lohmann

    Present address: Department of Physiology, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physiologisches Institut der Universität Göttingen, FRG

    C. Hellweg, J. Meyer-Lohmann, R. Benecke & U. Windhorst

Authors
  1. C. Hellweg
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  2. J. Meyer-Lohmann
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  3. R. Benecke
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  4. U. Windhorst
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Additional information

Some of the results were reported at the 41th Meeting of the Deutsehe Physiologische Gesellschaft, Düsseldorf (Hellweg and Meyer-Lohmann, 1973).

Supported by grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB 33: “Nerven-system und biologische Information”, Göttingen).

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Hellweg, C., Meyer-Lohmann, J., Benecke, R. et al. Responses of Renshaw cells to muscle ramp stretch. Exp Brain Res 21, 353–360 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00237898

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00237898

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