What is Myotatic contraction?

The stretch reflex or myotatic reflex refers to the contraction of a muscle in response to its passive stretching. When a muscle is stretched, the stretch reflex regulates the length of the muscle automatically by increasing its contractility as long as the stretch is within the physiological limits.

What causes myotatic reflex?

The Myotatic Reflex Is a MonoSynaptic Reflex Between Ia Afferents and the α Motor Neuron. The myotatic reflex is the “knee-jerk” reflex in which a muscle contracts in direct response to its stretch. It is typically elicited by tapping on the tendon of a muscle, which deforms the tendon and stretches the muscle.

What is myotatic reflex?

The myotatic reflex is monosynaptic, induced by the sudden passive muscle belly fiber stretch, and produces a muscle contraction in the agonist muscle or muscle group with simultaneous antagonist muscle (or muscle group) relaxation.[1] As with all reflexes, it is involuntary, reproducible, and likely is positively …

How is the Myotatic reflex elicited in muscle?

The myotatic reflex is the “knee-jerk” reflex in which a muscle contracts in direct response to its stretch. It is typically elicited by tapping on the tendon of a muscle, which deforms the tendon and stretches the muscle.

Which is the most reliable myotatic reflex arc?

The reflex arc consists of a sensory neuron that responds to the stretch of a muscle, and a motor neuron that in turn causes muscle contraction. In general, if only one limb is affected, a peripheral nerve injury is suspected, whereas a spinal cord lesion usually produces bilateral deficits. The most reliable myotatic reflex is the patellar reflex.

What causes a contraction in the soleus-gastrocnemius muscle?

A sudden stretch, such as tapping the Achilles’ tendon, causes a reflex contraction in the muscle as the spindles sense the stretch and send an action potential to the motor neurons which then cause the muscle to contract; this particular reflex causes a contraction in the soleus-gastrocnemius group of muscles.

What makes the muscles ready for the stretch reflex?

The gamma efferent cells in the loop work to keep the muscles ready for the stretch reflex, even when inhibited or contracted.