What is the stretch reflex?

Describe the stretch reflex process.

Alongside activation of the muscle from which the stretch reflex originated, what else occurs?

Although the stretch reflex may be tested under unnatural conditions (striking the patellar or Achilles tendon with a reflex hammer), the reflex occurs any time one uses a muscle - for what purpose?

How was tension taken off the Achilles tendon before measurements were taken in the lab exploring the stretch reflex?

What is the latency of the reflex being recorded?

What is the typical latency for the Achilles tendon/gastrocnemius stretch reflex?

What is the Jendrassik manoeuvre?

What physiological principle does the Jendrassik manoeuvre exploit?

How were the sympathetic chain ganglia primed in this lab?

Using a paired T-test each time, the class data showed no evidence for the Jendrassik manoeuvre affecting the latency or the magnitude of the stretch reflex before, during, or after the manoeuvre. Suggest why.

Using a linear regression, there was no evidence that hip-ankle length affected the latency of the stretch reflex, and only weak evidence (R^2 = 10%) that height affected stretch reflex latency. Why is this?

What can the stretch reflex be used to assess? What about the signal recorded might one be looking for?

How can the stretch reflex be used to localise neurological damage?

List some pathologies that may cause variations in the stretch reflex, and what effects they may have.