An electromyographic study of reflex control in the inferior head of the human lateral pterygoid muscle

Abstract

I electromyographically elucidated the reflexes of the inferior head of the human lateral pterygoid muscle, and compared them with those of the masseter muscle and anterior belly of the digastric muscle. Simul-taneous unilateral recordings were obtained for each muscle during electric gingival stimulation and mechanical tapping of the chin. The results suggest that there is an intricate reflex by which the human lateral pterygoid muscle responds to external stimulation for various conditions of voluntary muscle contraction, and that this muscle has a monosynaptic reflex are originating in its muscle spindles.