The effects of reflex path length on clonus frequency in spastic muscles

Clinical evaluation of clonus in spastic muscles was performed by comparing reflex path length with clonus frequency for different muscles in the same patient. It was found that clonus frequency varied inversely with reflex path length (r = 0.84, p less than 0.001). The findings confirm that clonus is generated by a peripheral mechanism of self re-excitation rather than a central spinal pacemaker.