Steps
A tendon reflex operates as follows:
- As the tension applied to a tendon increases, the Golgi tendon organ (sensory receptor) is stimulated (depolarized to threshold).
- Nerve impulses (action potentials) arise and propagate into the spinal cord along a sensory neuron.
- Within the spinal cord (integrating center), the sensory neuron activates an inhibitory interneuron that makes a synapse with a motor neuron.
- The inhibitory neurotransmitter inhibits (hyperpolarizes) the motor neuron, which then generates fewer nerve impulses.
- The muscle relaxes and relieves excess tension.
Read more about this topic: Golgi Tendon Reflex
Famous quotes containing the word steps:
“Perhaps I am doomed to retrace my steps under the illusion that I am exploring, doomed to try and learn what I should simply recognize, learning a mere fraction of what I have forgotten.”
—André Breton (1896–1966)
“He who, from zone to zone,
Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight,
In the long way that I must tread alone,
Will lead my steps aright.”
—William Cullen Bryant (1794–1878)
“I honor most those to whom I show least honor; and where my soul moves with great alacrity, I forget the proper steps of ceremony.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)