Reflex Facts

Reflexes are muscle movements that are automatic (they happen without you thinking about them).
Inborn reflexes are reflexes you were born with, such as urinating or shivering when you arc cold.
The knee-jerk is an inborn reflex that makes your leg jerk up when the tendon below your knee is tapped.
Primitive reflexes are reflexes that babies have for a few months after they have been born.
One primitive reflex is when you put something in a baby’s hand and it automatically grips it.
Conditioned reflexes are those you learn through habit, as certain pathways in the nervous system are used again and again.
Conditioned reflexes help you do anything from holding a cup to playing football without thinking.
Reflex reactions make you pull your hand from hot things before you have had time to think about it.
Reflex reactions work by short-circuiting the brain. The alarm signal from your hand sets off motor signals in the spinal cord to move the hand.
A reflex are is the nerve circuit from sense to muscle via the spinal cord.

This entry is filed under Interesting Facts.