THE LATENCIES OF MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL RESPONSES IN SKELETAL MUSCLE

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Abstract
The question as to whether observed delay between direct excitation and response of muscle is a real latency of the contractile tissue (denied by Einthoven and his co-workers) was reinvestigated. The data reported covers readings on gastrocnemius muscle of small Rana pipiens in single twitch and at various points of the biothermal range. Possible delays entering into the readings that do not belong to "true" latencies are discussed at length; those clearly of this kind are determined and the readings accordingly corrected. But even after all allowable deductions are made there still is always a positive remainder which varies inversely with temperature. Analysis of action potential latencies of the same muscle in single twitch also indicates a real but much smaller delay between this response and the mechanical responses. All these results thus confirm most of the earlier work and do not support the view postulating the non existence of true latency of response in skeletal muscle. The mean true latency of the thickening response in this study was found to vary from 43 a at 3[degree]C to 12 [less than or equal at 30[degree]C, the plotted data falling along a logarithmic curve convex to the temp. axis.

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