The response of chelonian muscle spindles to mechanical stimulation

Abstract

Single unit recordings have been made from the muscle spindles of the extensor digitorum brevis I muscle of the chelonian emys orbicularis. The responses to ramp-type mechanical stretches (up to 5 mm s−1 velocity and up to 1.6 mm extension) were compared to those of spindles from other groups. It is found that the spindles have lower rates of firing than those from the other groups with the exception of the snake spindles. Generally the spindles behaved like the secondary ending of mammalian spindles or the tonic type of snake spindle in terms of their response to the velocity of stretch. The results are consistent with the view that the tonic response arises from intrafusal muscle fibres in which the sensory region has a structure which is fairly uniform and similar to that of the polar regions and not interrupted by accumulations of nuclei.