Fusimotor axons in the kitten.

Abstract

In kittens 1- to 23-days old growth of axons in the soleus nerve has been studied using the structural parameters nerve length, internodal length, and axonal diameter. In addition, single functional fusimotor axons were isolated in lumbosacral ventral roots, and the responses of muscle spindles in soleus were studied during fusimotor stimulation. While nerve length over the soleus nerve to lumbar spinal root increased from 41 to 76 mm during the 22 days, mean internodal length increased from 250 to 410 microns. Mean axon diameter increased from 2.1 to 4.1 microns. In the youngest animals values for both internodal length and axon diameter were distributed uniformly about the mean. From day 11 onward the distributions became bimodal, including a growing number of new axons in the small-myelinated range. Filaments of ventral root were isolated that on repetitive stimulation had a specific excitatory effect on the discharge of muscle spindles. The responses could be attributed to axons that were not associated with measurable tension and were therefore likely to be fusimotor fibers. Measurements of the conduction velocity of skeletomotor and fusimotor axons showed that conduction speed increased progressively with age for both groups, but the rate of increase was more than three times faster in the most rapidly conducting skeletomotor axons compared with the fusimotor axons. The distribution of conduction velocities for fusimotor fibers showed two peaks, one in the range typical for conduction in unmyelinated fibers, 0.5-1.0 m/s, the second at 3-4 m/s. The small number of values in the range of 1-2 m/s was attributed to the process of myelination. It is suggested that conduction speed increases discontinuously over this part of the range as impulse conduction changes from continuous propagation to saltatory transmission. Eighteen fusimotor axons could be classified as having either a static or a dynamic action on spindle discharge. Repetitive stimulation of fusimotor fibers during a ramp-and-hold stretch of the muscle produced a characteristic response. Fibers classified as dynamic had little effect on the response of the spindle when the muscle was held at a particular length but greatly increased the response during a length change. Static fusimotor fibers, on stimulation, increased the response of the spindle at constant length but did not evoke a selective increase during the length change. Both kinds of fusimotor effects were characterized by overall low firing rates.