Recruitment and some other features of reflex inhibition

The present paper deals with some features of inhibitory relaxation of muscular contraction as observable in the knee extensor (decerebrate cat) when the crossed extensor reflex is subjected to inhibition by stimulation of an afferent nerve of the ipsilateral limb. The myograms have been obtained with the isometric optical myograph described in a previous paper, and the method of preparation, etc., has been as before. I. Relaxation-speed under Strong Inhibition. The speed of the muscular relaxation produced by the inhibition is often notably high. It then compares in rate with that of the lapse of a peripheral tetanus at cessation of the faradic stimulation of the muscle’s motor nerve (19).