PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - R Greenwood
AU  - A Hopkins
TI  - Monosynaptic reflexes in falling man.
AID  - 10.1136/jnnp.40.5.448
DP  - 1977 May 01
TA  - Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry
PG  - 448--454
VI  - 40
IP  - 5
4099  - http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/40/5/448.short
4100  - http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/40/5/448.full
SO  - J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry1977 May 01; 40
AB  - We have examined peripheral proprioceptive input during fall in man. The first 80 ms of unexpected free fall, both in a parachute harness and while seated, has been studied using the monosynaptic Hoffman (H) and Achilles tendon (T) reflexes. Facilitation of the H reflex begins about 30 to 40 ms after release, representing the onset of motor neurone facilitation before the electromyographic activity which begins about 80 ms after release. Earlier facilitation of the T reflex may represent spindle excitation due to change in muscle shape as suggested by Matthews and Whiteside (1960), but the T reflex inhibition described by these authors after 50 ms of seated fall is probably a purely mechanical phenomenon.