achilles tendon reflex

Hello,

I have set up a study question for my dissertation of trying to find a link between the achilles tendon reflex and the strength of the triceps surae muscle group. Unfortunately I can't find a clinical reason for doing it. does anyone know of the exact function of the achilles tendon reflex? I found a study once saying it had a small role in toe off during gait, but i've found more studies saying gait suppresses reflexes. Also I wondered how much the reflex was associated to balance control then maybe i could relate it to elderly falls? although maybe the elderly falls are more to do with deteration of muscle strength or decrease in propriception and receptors etc......
any ideas would be great
Jes

Hi Jes

to be frank it seems a strange piece of reasoning for developing a research question. It seems to me there is nothing unique about the ATR. When you tap on any musculotendinous unit you get a contraction. That has to do with the monosynaptic stretch reflex. A tendon reflex may just an epiphenomenon of the monosynaptic stretch reflex and have no particular functional significance in its own right. The monosynaptic stretch reflex is an important component of the neuromuscular system and contributes to motor control. However it is a leap of faith to postulate that the ATR is has a causal relationship to balance control and preventing falls, or to the rocker action of the ankle/foot in heel toe. There may be some relationship between strength of the triceps surae and the briskness of response of the ATR but that is probably not causal - may be you might find the thicker the crossectional diameter of the triceps surae of the more newtonss generated on dynamometry might (or might not) a correlate with a brisker response but again so what? I would suggest you think through the development of a more sound question - eg a real clinical problem, or a basic health science issue.

Or maybe I just haven't understood your thinking? but I don't get the point