The knee jerk is the popularly known stretch reflex (involuntary kick of the lower leg) induced by tapping the knee with a rubber-headed hammer. The hammer strikes a tendon that inserts an extensor muscle in the front of the thigh into the lower leg. Tapping the tendon stretches the thigh muscle, which activates stretch receptors within the muscle called muscle spindles. Each muscle spindle consists of sensory nerve endings wrapped around special muscle fibers called spindle fibers (also called intrafusal fibers). Stretching a spindle fiber initiates a volley of impulses in the sensory neuron (a I-a neuron) attached to it. The impulses travel along the sensory axon to the spinal cord where they form several kinds of synapses:
The knee jerk is the popularly known stretch reflex (involuntary kick of the lower leg) induced by tapping the knee with a rubber-headed hammer. The hammer strikes a tendon that inserts an extensor muscle in the front of the thigh into the lower leg. Tapping the tendon stretches the thigh muscle, which activates stretch receptors within the muscle called muscle spindles. Each muscle spindle consists of sensory nerve endings wrapped around special muscle fibers called intrafusal muscle fibers. Stretching an intrafusal fiber initiates a volley of impulses in the sensory neuron (a I-a neuron) attached to it. The impulses travel along the sensory axon to the spinal cord where they form several kinds of synapses:
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spindle fibers (also called intrafusal fibers). Stretching a spindle
intrafusal muscle fibers. Stretching an intrafusal