The Response Of A Sense Organ To A Harmonic Stimulus

Abstract

1. 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. 2. This result is shown to be a corollary of the adaptation shown by the sensory response to a transient stimulus. 3. 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 reflex arc.