Musculature

LEB 03

Muscle stretch reflex and determination of conducting velocity 03.02

What you can learn about
 Electromyogram
 Muscle stretch reflex
 Achilles tendon
 Reflex latency
 Conduction velocity
 Jendrassik effect
 Facilitation

Principle and tasks:

To trigger a stretch reflex in the
lower leg musculature by tapping
the Achilles tendon (Achilles tendon
reflex). To record the compound
action potential and determine the
reflex latency and the conduction
velocity.

What you need:

Cobra3 Basic Unit

12150.00

Power supply, 12 V

12151.99

RS232 data cable

14602.00

Cobra3 Universal Recorder software

14504.61

Bio-amplifier

65961.93

EMG electrodes, 3 off

65981.02

Electrode collecting cable

65981.03

Electrode cream, tube

65981.05

Reflex hammer, triggering

65981.10

Connecting cord, 32 A, l = 25 cm, red

07360.01

Connecting cord, 32 A, l = 25 cm, blue

07360.04

Roll of adhesive tape (e.g. Elastoplast)

Attaching the electrodes

PC, Windows 95 or higher

Muscle stretch reflex and determination

of conducting velocity

P4030211

Typical result

PHYWE Systeme GmbH & Co. KG D - 37070 Gttingen

Laboratory Experiments, Biology 25

LEB
03.02

Muscle stretch reflex and determination of conducting velocity

Related topics
Electromyogram, muscle stretch reflex, Achilles tendon,
reflex latency, conduction velocity, Jendrassik effect, facilitation
Principle and task
To trigger a stretch reflex in the lower leg musculature by
tapping the Achilles tendon (Achilles tendon reflex). To
record the compound action potential and determine the
reflex latency and the conduction velocity.
Equipment
Cobra3 Basic Unit
Power supply, 12 V
RS232 data cable
Cobra3 Universal Recorder software
Bio-amplifier
EMG electrodes, 3 off
Electrode collecting cable
Electrode cream, tube
Reflex hammer, triggering
Connecting cord, 32 A, l = 25 cm, red
Connecting cord, 32 A, l = 25 cm, blue
Roll of adhesive tape (e.g. Elastoplast)
PC, Windows

12150.00
12151.99
14602.00
14504.61
65961.93
65981.02
65981.03
65981.05
65981.10
07360.01
07360.04

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Set-up
Connect the instruments as shown in Fig. 1.
Connect the bio-amplifier AMPLIFIER OUT to Cobra3
ANALOG IN 2 (red to + and blue to -)
Connect the electrode collecting cable to the bioamplifier AMPLIFIER IN
Connect one plug of the reflex hammer to the yellow
ANALOG IN 1 socket of the Cobra3 interface and the
other plug to the red voltage output OUT socket
Procedure
Call up the COBRA3 MEASURE programme in Windows
Select the UNIVERSAL WRITER as measuring instrument

Fig. 2: Attaching the electrodes

Fig. 1: Experimental set-up

Phywe Series of publication Laboratory Experiments Biology PHYWE SYSTEME GMBH & Co. KG D-37070 Gttingen

40302

35

LEB
03.02

Muscle stretch reflex and determination of conducting velocity

Put a little electrode cream on the electrodes and use

adhesive tape to attach them firmly to the inside of the
lower leg, above the Gastrocnemius muscle, in the
succession as shown (Fig. 2)
Do not allow the green cable to hang down, but (to
reduce the interfering radiation) gather it together and
stick it firmly to the ankle (with the other cables)
Set the bio-amplifier to 1000 times amplification and
EMG
Set the measurement parameters (see Fig. 3) and go
to measurement with CONTINUE
Hold the bended lower leg of the (standing) test person with the left hand. Socks should be left on for better isolation; relax all muscles as much as possible
Tap the achilles tendon with the reflex hammer to
simultaneously trigger off the muscle stretch reflex
and the measurement
Save the result and prepare for a new measurement
Have the test person stretch his arm musculature; he
should do this by hooking his hands together and
strongly pulling them against each other as if to force
them apart. Repeat the action potential measurement
as described above

Results and evaluation

The reflex latency (= the interval between the stimulation and the muscle action potential) is approximately
40 ms. With a nerve tract length (Achilles tendon
spinal cord muscle) of 2 m, the conduction velocity
is 50 m/s (Fig. 4)
The amplitude of the muscle action potential is higher
with tensed arm musculature than with relaxed arm
musculature (approx. 3 mV compared to approx.
2 mV). The cause of this so-called Jendrassik effect is
that, as a result of the tensing of the arm musculature,
the other motoneurons of the spinal cord are innervated (facilitation).

Note
Analog in 1 is only required for the triggering of the
measurement procedure with the reflex hammer. This
(disturbing) channel can be removed from the diagram:
Change ANALOG CHANNEL 2 to NO Y AXIS,
and change ANALOG CHANNEL 1 to ANALOG CHANNEL 2.

Fig 3: Measurement parameters

Fig. 4: Typical result

36

40302

Phywe Series of publication Laboratory Experiments Biology PHYWE SYSTEME GMBH & Co. KG D-37070 Gttingen