Observations on the primary sensory ending of tenuissimus muscle spindles in the cat.

The arrangement of preterminal and terminal axon branches in the primary sensory endings of cat tenuissimus muscle spindles was studied using whole-mount and serial-section techniques. Although in every case one first-order preterminal branch was supplied exclusively to the bag1 type of intrafusal muscle fibre, the preterminal branching patterns differed considerably in detail. Terminals varied widely in size and location. Their precise form varied according to their position on the intrafusal muscle fibres rather than their relationship to preterminal branches. Terminals derived from separate preterminal branches remained separate and did not fuse with themselves or each other. Individually bag1 fibres had most terminals, chain fibres least. The surface of the muscle fibres were differentially indented by the terminals, least in bag1 fibres and most in chain fibres. The results are discussed in relation to mechanosensory transduction and to the factors involved in determining the form of the primary ending.