Question

What is reflex action? Write its types and two examples of each.

Answer 1

Hint: When a person touches a hot object unintentionally, without thought, they instinctively jerk their hand away. A reflex does not need the input of any thought. A reflex arc is called the path taken by the nerve impulses in a reflex.

Complete answer:
In response to a stimulus, a reflex action, also known as a reflex, is an automatic and nearly instantaneous reaction.

There are two forms of Reflex Action:
1. Unconditioned reflexes: Inborn reflexes are these. These include knee jerk, peristalsis.
2. Conditioned reflexes: These are acquired after birth and involve some kind of learning. These include playing a musical instrument, driving a car.
The reflex arc is considered the anatomical pathway of a reflex. It consists of an afferent (or sensory) nerve and an efferent (motor, secretory, or secreto- motor) nerve, usually one or more interneurons inside the central nervous system.

Additional Information:
- The pupillary light reflex is perhaps the best- known reflex.
- The pupils of both eyes contract if a light is flashed close to one eye. Light is the stimulus; impulses through the optic nerve enter the brain; and autonomic nerves that supply the eye relay the response to the pupillary musculature.
- The cough and sneeze reflexes are other reflexes of the midbrain and medulla oblongata.
- An irritant in the trachea triggers the cough reflex and one in the nose triggers the sneeze reflex.
- In both, several muscles are involved in the reflex response; this includes a brief respiration lapse in order to remove the irritant.

Note:
- In the womb, the first reflexes develop.
- The first reflex can be observed at seven and a half weeks after conception; stimulation around the mouth of the fetus causes the lips to be redirected to the stimulus.