TEMPORAL SUMMATION IN RHYTHMICALLY ACTIVE MONOSYNAPTIC REFLEX PATHWAYS

Monosynaptic reflex responses elicited by repetitive stimulation in the frequency range between 60 and 100 per second yield evidence of temporal summation. The relation between stimulus interval and mean monosynaptic reflex response in the steady state at the frequencies studied is described adequately by an exponential decaying to 1/e in 4 msec. Since the temporal course of spatial summation is described adequately by the same exponential it is concluded that the two phenomena, temporal and spatial, are expressions of the same fundamental process intrinsic to the workings of the monosynaptic reflex pathway, to wit the synaptic potential-residual facilitation mechanism of prior descriptions. Some discussion of implications is appended.