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Related Concept Videos

Major Somatic Sensory Pathways01:28

Major Somatic Sensory Pathways

Sensory impulses related to touch, pressure, vibration, and proprioception from various body parts, such as the limbs, trunk, neck, and posterior head, travel to the cerebral cortex through the posterior column-medial lemniscus pathway. The pathway’s name derives from the two white-matter tracts that convey the impulses: the spinal cord's posterior column and the brainstem's medial lemniscus. First-order sensory neurons extend their axons into the spinal cord, forming the posterior columns...
Alterations in Muscle Tone lll01:11

Alterations in Muscle Tone lll

Rigidity and myotonia are distinct abnormalities of muscle tone that affect resistance and relaxation during movement. Although both involve altered muscle contraction, they arise from different neurological and muscular mechanisms.CharacteristicsRigidity is characterized by uniform resistance to passive movement across the entire range, independent of speed, affecting flexors and extensors equally. It may appear as lead-pipe rigidity (smooth, constant resistance) or cogwheel rigidity...
Alterations in Muscle Tone ll01:12

Alterations in Muscle Tone ll

Alterations in muscle tone are common manifestations of neurological disorders and reflect dysfunction within different nervous system regions. Spasticity, paratonia, and dystonia represent distinct forms of hypertonia, each with unique mechanisms, clinical features, and diagnostic importance.CharacteristicsSpasticity happens from upper motor neuron lesions and is characterized by velocity-dependent resistance to passive movement. Clinical features include:Exaggerated deep tendon reflexesClonus...
Somatic Spinal Reflexes01:22

Somatic Spinal Reflexes

Somatic spinal reflexes are rapid, involuntary muscular responses to external stimuli that involve the somatic musculature and the spinal cord.
One of the most well-known somatic spinal reflexes is the stretch reflex, which is activated by the sudden stretching of a muscle. This reflex involves the activation of specialized sensory receptors called muscle spindles, which are located in the muscle tissue and detect changes in the length and speed of muscle contractions. When a muscle is suddenly...
Disorders of the Skeletal Muscle01:28

Disorders of the Skeletal Muscle

The clinical conditions affecting the skeletal muscle tissue are broadly categorized as musculoskeletal and neuromuscular disorders.
Musculoskeletal disorders
Musculoskeletal disorders involve injuries and conditions affecting the skeletal muscles and associated connective tissues. These disorders can arise from acute biomechanical stresses or chronic overuse and can occur across different age groups. Common injuries include sprains, fractures, and muscular strains, often resulting from...
Muscle Coordination and Action01:24

Muscle Coordination and Action

Muscle coordination is a complex and finely tuned process essential for smooth and purposeful movements like flexion, extension, adduction, abduction, and rotation. The human body orchestrates the actions of various muscles working in concert, each with a specific role. Four functional types describe how muscles work together: agonist, antagonist, synergist, and fixator.
Agonists
Agonist muscles, often called prime movers, are the primary muscles responsible for producing a specific movement.

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Increased muscle spindle sensitivity to movement during reinforcement manoeuvres in relaxed human subjects.

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Comparison of the depression of H-reflexes following previous activation in upper and lower limb muscles in human subjects.

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Muscle spindle activity following muscle tendon vibration in man.

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Task-dependence of muscle afferent monosynaptic inputs to human extensor carpi radialis motoneurones.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 16, 2026

A Simple Non-invasive Method for Temporary Knockdown of Upper Limb Proprioception
07:42

A Simple Non-invasive Method for Temporary Knockdown of Upper Limb Proprioception

Published on: March 3, 2018

Proprioception and myoclonus.

C Rossi-Durand1

  • 1Laboratoire de physiologie et physiopathologie de la motricité (P3M), CNRS-UMR 6196 CNRS/université de la Méditerranée, 31, chemin Joseph-Aiguier, 13402 Marseille cedex 20, France. crd@dpm.cnrs-mrs.fr

Neurophysiologie Clinique = Clinical Neurophysiology
|March 6, 2007
PubMed
Summary

Muscle spindles provide crucial sensory information for proprioception and motor control. Understanding their function and spinal reflexes is key to diagnosing neurological disorders like myoclonus.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Motor Control
  • Sensory Physiology

Background:

  • Muscle spindles are mechanoreceptors vital for proprioception and motor control.
  • Fusimotor command (gamma-motoneurons) regulates spindle sensitivity during motor actions.
  • Dysfunction in the fusimotor system may link to clinical signs like sensorimotor cortex hyperexcitability in myoclonus.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the structural and functional properties of muscle spindles and their role in motor control.
  • To explore the projections of spindle afferents into the spinal cord.
  • To discuss the dysfunction of spinal sensorimotor networks in neurological disorders.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing literature on muscle spindle structure, function, and neural pathways.

More Related Videos

Proprioception and Tension Receptors in Crab Limbs: Student Laboratory Exercises
12:58

Proprioception and Tension Receptors in Crab Limbs: Student Laboratory Exercises

Published on: October 24, 2013

Muscle Receptor Organs in the Crayfish Abdomen: A Student Laboratory Exercise in Proprioception
10:50

Muscle Receptor Organs in the Crayfish Abdomen: A Student Laboratory Exercise in Proprioception

Published on: November 18, 2010

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 16, 2026

A Simple Non-invasive Method for Temporary Knockdown of Upper Limb Proprioception
07:42

A Simple Non-invasive Method for Temporary Knockdown of Upper Limb Proprioception

Published on: March 3, 2018

Proprioception and Tension Receptors in Crab Limbs: Student Laboratory Exercises
12:58

Proprioception and Tension Receptors in Crab Limbs: Student Laboratory Exercises

Published on: October 24, 2013

Muscle Receptor Organs in the Crayfish Abdomen: A Student Laboratory Exercise in Proprioception
10:50

Muscle Receptor Organs in the Crayfish Abdomen: A Student Laboratory Exercise in Proprioception

Published on: November 18, 2010

  • Analysis of the complexity of the monosynaptic reflex.
  • Discussion of clinical methods for testing motoneuron and spinal network excitability.

    • Main Results:

    • Muscle spindles, regulated by fusimotor neurons, are essential for precise motor control.
    • Spindle afferent projections and spinal sensorimotor networks are complex.
    • The monosynaptic reflex, though simple in organization, is crucial for assessing spinal excitability.

    Conclusions:

    • Understanding muscle spindle function and spinal reflex mechanisms is critical for interpreting neurological changes.
    • Factors like pre-synaptic inhibition and post-activation depression influence reflex amplitude.
    • Accurate interpretation of spinal excitability requires knowledge of normal reflex function in neurological conditions.