A method of analysing the responses of spindle primary endings to fusimotor stimulation

Abstract

1. The superposition of records of ;instantaneous' frequency of discharge of spindle primary endings after stimulation of single fusimotor fibres leads to the construction of graphs called ;frequencygrams'.2. The superposition is made on the screen of a storage oscilloscope, the time base of which is synchronized with the stimulus. It is essential that the stimulus be delivered at all possible intervals with respect to the impulse of the resting discharge which precedes it.3. Frequencygrams obtained by stimulating some static fusimotor fibres by single stimuli display a response with a fast rising phase, a pause, and a slower decreasing phase.4. Frequencygrams may give some information on the time course of the contraction of intrafusal muscle fibres elicited by stimulating their motor axons.