Response to discussion board on: Reflexes

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You will be responding to a discussion board post. This post should be 80% you, and then facts found from other sources. Its not opinionated. It needs to have critical thinking. 125 Word minimum, APA format, cited. It needs to pertain to the paragraph and what the paragraph says. Other things can be added in as well, but make sure it is not just random facts. Below is the paragraph you will be responding to:

1. Student submitted a thorough, informational and clear response that advanced the discussion with detail. Critical thinking about topic was included.

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2. Assignment submitted on time and on a different day than other posts. Assignment met 125 word count minimum.

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3. Appropriate scientific college-level sources were used. Post contained APA formatted references and in-text citations. The post was grammatically correct.

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#12 Reflexes: How do reflexes differ from other motor actions

Explanation/background/examples

A reflex in a muscle is an involuntary movement by the person. It’s something that automatically happens without the person actually “trying” to do it. Meaning, when you move your arm to grab the water bottle from the table is a voluntary movement: you want a drink of water, so your brain tells your arm to reach out and grab the water. A reflex, on the other hand, is involuntary and where the phrase, “knee-jerk reaction” comes from. The knee-jerk reaction is the age old doctor test who hits your knee to see if it’ll make the bottom half of your leg “jerk” in response. Your brain didn’t tell you to move your leg, it happened automatically as a reaction from being hit (Saladin, 2018, p.493).

There are four aspects needed in order for the motion to be a reflex: require stimulation (hitting the knee at the right angle), are quick, are involuntary, and are stereotyped (there are no surprises or changes with how the body will react). Another example is that you blink when something is thrown at you or is coming towards you. Yes, you blink all of the time, but if someone claps right in front of your face, you are going to blink as a reaction to protect your eye involuntarily. Another area to pay attention to is somatic reflexes, which is a type of reflex that occurs in the skeletal muscle. This type of reflex gets its name from the nervous system in which its involved with, the somatic nervous system. Somatic reflexes are distributed more so of the brain then the spinal accord which is also involved (Saladin, 2018, p.493).

Tips and Tricks

Below I made a mnemonic device that stands for Requires Stimulation, Quick, Involuntary, Stereotyped.

Ralph Sits Quietly In Seattle

Connect the Dots

This is an important topic because we use our reflexes every day of our lives. Our reflexes can respond in ways that could potentially save our lives, which is a truly amazing feat. I believe that reflexes can be relatable to nerves in our bodies (Section 13.2) because they both can produce signals to our brain that contribute involuntary muscle movement.

Reference

Saladin, K. (2018). Anatomy and Physiology: The Unity of Form and Function. (8th ed.).

(pp.493). New York, NY: McGraw Hill Education.