GOLGI TENDON REFLEX OR INVERSE
STRETCH REFLEX
• DEFINITION
Relaxation of a muscle in response
to a strong stretch is called inverse stretch
reflex.
• Up to a point, the harder a muscle is stretched,
the stronger is the reflex contraction. However,
when the tension becomes great enough,
contraction suddenly ceases and the muscle
relaxes. This relaxation in response to strong
stretch is called the inverse stretch reflex or
autogenic inhibition.
• The receptors for the inverse stretch reflex are
the Golgi tendon organs.
• Golgi tendon organs are encapsulated
receptors located in tendons which detect
muscle tension.
GOLGI TENDON ORGAN
GOLGI TENDON ORGAN
• There are 3–25 muscle fibers per tendon
organ.
• The fibers from the Golgi tendon organs make
up the Ib group of myelinated, rapidly
conducting sensory nerve fibers.
• The Ib fibers end in the spinal cord on
inhibitory interneurons that in turn terminate
directly on the motor neurons.
• They also make excitatory connections with
motor neurons supplying antagonists to the
muscle.
• Unlike spindles, they are arranged in series
between muscle fibers and tendons.
• Golgi tendon organ is stimulated when this small
bundle of muscle fibers is “tensed” by contracting
or stretching the muscle.
• Thus, the major difference in excitation of the Golgi
tendon organ versus the muscle spindle is that the
spindle detects muscle length and changes in
muscle length, whereas the tendon organ detects
muscle tension.
• Golgi tendon organs provide the nervous system
with instantaneous information on the degree of
tension in each small segment of each muscle.
Inhibitory Nature of the Tendon Reflex and
Its Importance
• When tension on the muscle and, therefore, on the tendon
becomes extreme, signals are transmitted from golgi
tendon organs to the spinal cord via afferent Ib fibers. In
the cord Ib afferent fibers stimulate inhibitory interneuron
which in turn inhibit alpha motor neuron which leads to
instantaneous relaxation of the entire muscle.
• Thus, this reflex provides a negative feedback mechanism
that prevents the development of too much tension on
the muscle
• This effect is also called the lengthening reaction; it is
probably a protective mechanism to prevent tearing of
the muscle or avulsion of the tendon from its attachments
to the bone
CLASP KNIFE REFLEX
• It refers to exaggerated stretch reflex & inverse stretch reflex
in hypertonic or spastic muscles as observed in UMNL
• Passive flexion of the elbow, for example, meets immediate
resistance as a result of the stretch reflex in the triceps
muscle. Further stretch activates the inverse stretch reflex.
The resistance to flexion suddenly collapses, and the arm
flexes. Continued passive flexion stretches the muscle again,
and the sequence may be repeated.
• This sequence of resistance followed by give when a limb is
moved passively is known as the clasp-knife effect because
of its resemblance to the closing of a pocket knife. It is also
known as the lengthening reaction because it is the
response of a spastic muscle to lengthening
