ABSTRACT
The response is described of the tactile ending in a femoral spine of the leg of Periplaneta to a harmonic (sinusoidal) mechanical stimulus of low frequency. The peak frequency of impulses in the sensory nerve precedes the maximum tension of the stimulus.
This result is shown to be a corollary of the adaptation shown by the sensory response to a transient stimulus.
The concept of the ‘transfer function’ is discussed in relation to neurophysiology. Its value is explained as a means of describing the dynamic properties of component parts of the nervous system when the objective is an understanding of the functioning of the complete rçflex arc.
Copyright © 1952 The Company of Biologists Ltd.
1952
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