FIGURE 16 Basic circuitry underlying the knee-jerk stretch

reflex. Ia spindle afferents from the quadriceps muscle make

monosynaptic, excitatory connections on motor neurons that
innervate the quadriceps.
FIGURE 6-1 Path of excitation in a simplified spinal reflex that mediates withdrawal of the leg from a painful stimulus. In each of the three neurons and in the muscle
cell, excitation starts with a localized slow potential and is propagated via an action potential (a.p.). Slow potentials are generator potential (g.p.) at the skin receptor; the
excitatory postsynaptic potentials (e.p.s.p.) in the interneuron and the motoneuron and end-plate potential (e.p.p.) at the neuromuscular junction. Each neuron makes
additional connections to other pathways that are not shown.