Stretch reflex

Japanese: 伸展反射 - しんてんはんしゃ（英語表記）stretch reflex

This is a reflex that occurs when a pulling force is applied to a skeletal muscle, and is also called a stretch reflex. It is particularly common in extensor muscles, which work to stretch a joint against gravity and maintain an upright posture. This phenomenon occurs in skeletal muscles that are normally innervated, but if the nerves that control the muscle are cut and the connection between the muscle and the central nervous system is severed, contraction does not occur, which shows that muscle stretch information is transmitted via the central nervous system to cause the muscle to reflexively contract. The receptor for muscle stretch is the muscle spindle, and most of the pathways of the stretch reflex are monosynaptic pathways, in which a primary afferent neuron (a nerve fiber that transmits signals) and a motor neuron are connected via a single synapse.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

骨格筋に引っぱりの力が加わったときに起こる反射で，伸張反射ともいう。重力に抗して関節を伸ばさせて，直立姿勢を保つときに働く伸筋でとくによくみられる。正常な神経支配を受けている骨格筋ではこのような現象が起こるが，筋肉を支配する神経を切り筋肉と中枢神経系の連絡を断つと収縮は起こらないことから，筋伸展の情報が中枢神経系を介してその筋肉を反射的に収縮させることがわかる。筋伸展の受容器は筋紡錘で，伸展反射の経路の大部分は一次求心性ニューロン(信号を伝える神経繊維)と運動ニューロンが一つのシナプスを介してつながった単シナプス経路である。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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