MOTOR FUNCTIONS

OF SPINAL CORD
 GOLGI TENDON REFLEX
• GTO controls muscle tension
• Encapsulated sensory receptor through which
muscle tendon fibres pass
• 10-15 muscle fibres are connected
• It has both dynamic and static response like that
of muscle spindle.
• Golgi tendon organs provide the nervous system
with instantaneous information on the degree of
tension in each small segment of each muscle.
 CONTD….
• Large, rapidly conducting type Ib nerve fibers carry
signals from GTO
• These fibres average 16 micrometers in diameter.
• Transmit signals;
1. To local areas of the cord
2. Cerebellum
3. Cerebral cortex.
• The local cord signal excites a single inhibitory
interneuron that inhibits the anterior motor neuron
TENDON REFLEX AND ITS IMPORTANCE
• 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. Thus, this
reflex provides a negative feedback
mechanism that prevents the development of
too much tension on the muscle.
 CONTD….
• When the tension on the muscle tendon
becomes extreme, it causes lengthening
reaction.
• It is probably a protective mechanism to
prevent tearing of the muscle or avulsion of
the tendon from its attachments to the bone
• It also helps to equalize contractile forces of
the separate muscle fibers
 FLEXOR REFLEX AND WITH DRAWL
REFLEX
• Any type of cutaneous sensory stimulus from a
limb is likely to cause the flexor muscles of the limb
to contract, thereby withdrawing the limb from
the stimulating object. This is called the flexor
reflex.
• In its classic form, the flexor reflex is elicited most
powerfully by stimulation of pain endings, such as
by a pinprick, heat, or a wound, for which reason it
is also called a nociceptive reflex, or simply a pain
reflex.
• Stimulationof touch receptors can also elicit a
weaker and less prolonged flexor reflex.
 CONTD….
• Many patterns of these reflexes in the
different areas of the body are called
withdrawal reflexes.
• The pathways for eliciting the flexor reflex do
not pass directly to the anterior motor
neurons but instead pass first into the spinal
cord interneuron pool of neurons and only
secondarily to the motor neurons.
NEURONAL CIRCUITS IN FLEXOR REFLEX
• The shortest possible circuit is a three- or four-
neuron pathway
• Following basic types of the circuit are
involved;
• Diverging circuits to spread the reflex to the
necessary muscles for withdrawal
1. Inhibitory circuits for antagonists
2. After discharge circuits
 CONTD….
• Thus, the flexor reflex is appropriately organized
to withdraw a pained or otherwise irritated part
of the body from a stimulus.
• Further, because of afterdischarge, the reflex can
hold the irritated part away from the stimulus for
0.1 to 3 seconds after the irritation is over.
• During this time, other reflexes and actions of
the central nervous system can move the entire
body away from the painful stimulus.
 PATTERN OF WITH DRAWL REFLEX
• The pattern of withdrawal that results when the flexor
reflex is elicited depends on which sensory nerve is
stimulated.
• The integrative centers of the cord cause those muscles
to contract that can most effectively remove the pained
part of the body away from the object causing the pain.

• Although this principle, called the principle of “local sign,”

applies to any part of the body, it is especially applicable
to the limbs because of their highly developed flexor
reflexes.
 CROSSED EXTENSOR REFLEX
• About 0.2 to 0.5 second after a stimulus elicits
a flexor reflex in one limb, the opposite limb
begins to extend.

• Extension of the opposite limb can push the

entire body away from the object causing the
painful stimulus in the withdrawn limb.
 NEURONAL CIRCUIT OF CROSSED
EXTENSOR REFLEX
• Signals from sensory nerves cross to the
opposite side of the cord to excite extensor
muscles.
• As crossed extensor reflex usually does not
begin until 200 to 500 milliseconds after onset
of the initial pain stimulus, it is certain that
many interneurons are involved in the circuit.
• Cross extensor reflex has long after discharge
than flexor reflex
RECIPROCAL INHIBITION AND RECIPROCAL
INNERVATION
• Excitation of one group of muscles is often
associated with inhibition of another group.

• Reciprocal relations often exist between the

muscles on the two sides of the body.
REFLEXES OF POSTURE AND
LOCOMOTION
 POSITIVE SUPPORTIVE REACTION
• Pressure on the footpad causes the limb to
extend against the pressure applied to the
foot.
• The reflex often stiffens the limbs sufficiently
to support the weight of the body. This reflex
is called the positive supportive reaction.
 CONTD….
• The locus of the pressure on the pad of the
foot determines the direction in which the
limb will extend
• Pressure on one side causes extension in that
direction, an effect called the magnet
reaction.
STEPPING AND WALKING
 RHYTHMICAL STEPPING MOV OF SINGLE
LIMB
• Rhythmical stepping movements are frequently
observed in the limbs of spinal animals.
• The oscillation back and forth between flexor
and extensor muscles can occur even after the
sensory nerves have been cut
• It seems to result mainly from mutually
reciprocal inhibition circuits within the matrix of
the cord itself, oscillating between the neurons
controlling agonist and antagonist muscles.
 CONTD….
• The sensory signals from the footpads and
from the position sensors around the joints
play a strong role in controlling foot pressure
and frequency of stepping when the foot is
allowed to walk along a surface.
 STUMBLE REFLEX
• If the top of the foot encounters an
obstruction during forward thrust, the forward
thrust will stop temporarily; then, in rapid
sequence, the foot will be lifted higher and
proceed forward to be placed over the
obstruction.
RECIPROCAL STEPPING OF OPPOSITE LIMBS

• If the lumbar spinal cord is not split down its

center, every time stepping occurs in the
forward direction in one limb, the opposite
limb ordinarily moves backward.
• This effect results from reciprocal innervation
between the two limbs.
 MARK TIME REFLEX
• In general, stepping occurs diagonally
between the forelimbs and hindlimbs.
• This diagonal response is another
manifestation of reciprocal innervation, the
time occurring the entire distance up and
down the cord between the forelimbs and
hindlimbs.
• Such a walking pattern is called a mark time
reflex.
 GALLOPING REFLEX
• Reflex in which both forelimbs move backward
in unison while both hindlimbs move forward.
• This often occurs when almost equal stretch or
pressure stimuli are applied to the limbs on
both sides of the body at the same time.
 SCRATCH REFLEX
• In some animals there is another reflex called
the scratch reflex, which is initiated by itch or
tickle sensation.
• It involves two functions:
1. A position sense that allows the paw to find
the exact point of irritation on the surface of
the body
2. To-and-fro scratching movement.
CORD REFLEXES CAUSING MUSCLE SPASM

• Muscle spasm from a broken bone

• Abdominal spasm in peritonitis
• Muscle cramps
AUTONOMIC REFLEXES IN SPINAL CORD
• Changes in vascular tone
• Sweating
• GIT reflexes
• Evacuation reflexes
• Mass reflex
 MASS REFLEX
• Sometimes the spinal cord suddenly becomes
excessively active, causing massive discharge in
large portions of the cord.
• The usual stimulus that causes this is a strong pain
stimulus to the skin or excessive filling of a viscus,
such as overdistention of the bladder or the gut.
• Regardless of the type of stimulus, the resulting
reflex, called the mass reflex, involves large
portions or even all of the cord.
 EFFECTS OF MASS REFLEX
1. A major portion of the body’s skeletal muscles
goes into strong flexor spasm
2. The colon and bladder are likely to evacuate
3. The arterial pressure often rises to maximal
values, sometimes to a systolic pressure well
over 200 mm Hg
4. Large areas of the body break out into profuse
sweating.
 Great reverberating circuits- last for min
 SPINAL SHOCK
• When the spinal cord is suddenly transected in the
upper neck, at first, essentially all cord functions,
including the cord reflexes, immediately become
depressed to the point of total silence, a reaction
called spinal shock.
• After a few hours to a few weeks, the spinal
neurons gradually regain their excitability
• After they lose their source of facilitatory impulses,
they increase their own natural degree of
excitability to make up at least partially for the loss.
 CONTD….
1. At onset of spinal shock, the arterial blood
pressure falls instantly and drastically—
sometimes to as low as 40 mm Hg
2. All skeletal muscle reflexes integrated in the
spinal cord are blocked during the initial
stages of shock. in human beings, 2 weeks to
several months are sometimes required.
• After which hyper reflexia appears
 CONTD….
3. The sacral reflexes for control of bladder and
colon evacuation are suppressed in human
beings for the first few weeks after cord
transection, but in most cases they
eventually return.