The discharge rate: tension relation of Golgi tendon organs.

Tendon organs are preferentially sensitive to activity in a small selected number of motor units. We have isolated single tendon organ afferents and the motor units exerting effects on them in the soleus muscle of the cat. Using the method of distributed stimulation it has been possible to grade motor unit tension over a wide range and record the corresponding firing rates of the receptor. The plot of firing rate against tension was found to be highly non-linear and did not conform to the simple power function previously attributed to the relation.