Question:easy
Golgi tendon organ is responsible for sensing?
Golgi tendon organ is responsible for sensing?
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It lies in series with muscle fibres, so it reports the force the muscle generates.
Updated On: Jun 23, 2026
- Tension
- Length
- Pressure
- Proprioception
Show Solution
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: Think about where the receptor sits. The Golgi tendon organ is woven into the tendon right where it meets the muscle, lined up in series with the working muscle fibres.
Step 2: Anything placed in series carries the full pulling force passing through it. So whenever the muscle generates force, that force squeezes the GTO, and it reports back how much tension the muscle is producing, plus how fast that tension is changing.
Step 3: Contrast this with the muscle spindle, which runs parallel to the fibres and therefore tracks how long the muscle is, not how hard it pulls. That is why length is a spindle job, not a GTO job.
Step 4: Pressure detection is handled by skin receptors, and saying proprioception in general misses the point because the GTO has one clear modality. The GTO is the tension monitor. \[\boxed{\text{Tension}}\]
Step 2: Anything placed in series carries the full pulling force passing through it. So whenever the muscle generates force, that force squeezes the GTO, and it reports back how much tension the muscle is producing, plus how fast that tension is changing.
Step 3: Contrast this with the muscle spindle, which runs parallel to the fibres and therefore tracks how long the muscle is, not how hard it pulls. That is why length is a spindle job, not a GTO job.
Step 4: Pressure detection is handled by skin receptors, and saying proprioception in general misses the point because the GTO has one clear modality. The GTO is the tension monitor. \[\boxed{\text{Tension}}\]
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