Question

Which of the following detects the magnitude of mechanical stress at the musculotendinous junction?

A. Nociceptors
B. Muscle spindles
C. Golgi tendon organ
D. Chemoreceptors

Answer 1

C. Golgi tendon organ

Step-by-step explanation:

located in the tendon adjacent to the myotendinous junction.

Image 1: Golgi Tendon Organ (neurotendinous spindle) from the human tendo calcaneus.

The Golgi tendon organ is a tree-like sensory ending enclosed in a spindle-like connective tissue capsule, that lies near the junction of a tendon with a muscle.

In man, some 10 to 20 muscle fibres are connected to one tendon organ.

A typical tendon organ in limb muscles has an ending of about 0.5 mm in length. The endings are supplied by Ib afferent fibres (thinner than Ia) of high conduction velocity.

The GTO are nearly as common in most muscles as muscle spindles.[1]

In contrast to muscle spindles, the Golgi tendon organ lies in series with skeletal muscle fibres and therefore discharges during passive stretching of the muscle as well as when the tendon is stretched by the contraction of the muscle. Accordingly, the tendon organ is considered to be a muscle tension receptor rather than a muscle stretch receptor. [2]

Answer 2

C. Golgi tendon organ

Step-by-step explanation:

The Golgi tendon organ (GTO) is a sensory organ receptor that senses changes in muscle tension and is located in the skeletal muscle fibers into the tendons of skeletal muscle. It responds to muscle tension on the tendons by restricting further muscle contraction.

it also detects the magnitude of mechanical stress at the musculotendinous junction.