What happens when Golgi tendon organ is stretched?

When the organs are stimulated by a prolonged stretch they cause the stretched muscle to relax. This reflex, which connects high force in the Golgi tendon organs with relaxation, is the opposite of the myotatic reflex (or stretch reflex), in which stretch elicits a reflex contraction.

Is Golgi tendon organ sensitive to stretch?

As a result, Golgi tendon organs are exquisitely sensitive to increases in muscle tension that arise from muscle contraction but, unlike spindles, are relatively insensitive to passive stretch (Figure 16.11B).

What happens when the Golgi tendon organ is stimulated?

When you lift weights, the golgi tendon organ is the sense organ that tells you how much tension the muscle is exerting. If there is too much muscle tension the golgi tendon organ will inhibit the muscle from creating more force (via a reflex arc), thus protecting you from injuring itself.

How does a Golgi tendon reflex work?

A Golgi tendon reflex operates as follows: As excessive tension is applied to a tendon, the Golgi tendon organ (sensor) is stimulated (depolarized to threshold) Nerve impulses (action potentials) arise and propagate along sensory fiber Ib into the spinal cord

What is Golgi tendon organ?

Image 1: Golgi Tendon Organ (neurotendinous spindle) from the human tendo calcaneus. The Golgi tendon organ is a tree-like sensory ending enclosed in a spindle-like connective tissue capsule, that lies near the junction of a tendon with a muscle.

What is the difference between a spindle and a Golgi tendon?

The GTO are nearly as common in most muscles as muscle spindles. In contrast to muscle spindles, the Golgi tendon organ lies in series with skeletal muscle fibres and therefore discharges during passive stretching of the muscle as well as when the tendon is stretched by the contraction of the muscle.

Why are Golgi tendon inhibitors inhibitory?

When the Golgi tendon organs of a muscle tendon are stimulated by increased tension in the connecting muscle, signals are transmitted to the spinal cord to cause reflex effects in the respective muscle. This reflex is entirely inhibitory.