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Diurnal rhythm in the spinal stretch reflex

1982; Elsevier BV; Volume: 244; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/0006-8993(82)90099-3

1872-6240

Jonathan R. Wolpaw, Richard F. Seegal,

Neuroscience of respiration and sleep

We studied primate spinal stretch reflex (SSR) amplitude as a function of time of day. SSR amplitude was greatest around midnight and smallest around noon. The diurnal rhythm was not simply a function of number of trials, or of the lighting cycle. This rhythm offers an opportunity to study the neuronal and synaptic mechanisms producing a diurnal change in CNS function. Its existence indicates that the CNS response to a given limb disturbance, and thus the CNS activity underlying a given performance, varies with time of day.