THE RESPONSE OF SMOOTH MUSCLE TO STRETCH

Abstract

The ureter of the dog was suddenly inflated with air at one end. Electric potentials were recorded from this region and from another one about 1 cm away. The distention sets off a local potential change which, if strong enough, induces a conducted all-or-none response. The greater the distention, the steeper and larger is the local potential and, therefore, the shorter the delay in the onset of the conducted response. The observations suggest that the response to stretch is myogenic.