Static and Dynamic Properties of Golgi Tendon Organs in the Anterior Tibial and Soleus Muscles of the Cat

The responses of tendon organs of the anterior tibial muscle have been studied during twitch contraction, passive stretch, fused tetanic contractions and sinusoidal stretching in Nembutal anesthetized cats. The majority of the tendon organs had similar thresholds to active contraction and passive stretch tension. Some tendon organs were found to discharge spontaneously in the relaxed muscle. An approximate power function relationship has been found between steady state impulse frequency and muscle tension. The receptor properties are compared with those of soleus tendon organs. It is concluded that static and dynamic properties of Golgi tendon organs in the anterior tibial and the soleus muscles fall within the same range of variation, and that apparent discharge dissimilarities can be explained as due to differences in muscle mechanics.