This reflex is also called the inverse myotatic reflex because it is the inverse of the stretch reflex. Although muscle tension is increasing during the contraction, the alpha motor neurons in the …

Running in parallel to the withdrawal reflex is the crossed-extensor reflex. If you step on something sharp and lift that leg, your other leg needs to be able to support your weight shift, …

To produce this reflex, branches of the afferent nerve fibers cross from the stimulated side of the body to the contralateral side of the spinal cord. There, they synapse with interneurons, which, …

Examples of simple reflexes are the contraction of a muscle in response to stretching, the blink of the eye when the cornea is touched, and salivation at the sight of food.

Somatic spinal reflexes utilize motor neurons of the ventral horn of the spinal cord to activate skeletal muscles. The simplest example of this type of reflex is the stretch reflex. In this reflex, …

Most skeletal muscles exhibit a tendon tap reflex, but the reflex is strongest in the antigravity or physiological extensor muscles. This makes some sense in light of the discussion of the last …

This is called the crossed extensor reflex. Extension of the opposite limb can push the entire body away from the object causing the painful stimulus in the with-drawn limb.

Stimulation of cutaneous receptors in the foot leads to activation of spinal cord local circuits that withdraw (flex) the stimulated extremity and extend the other extremity to provide …

The crossed extensor reflex is just a withdrawal reflex on one side with the addition of inhibitory pathways needed to maintain balance and coordination. For example, you step on a nail with …

Running in parallel to the withdrawal reflex is the crossed-extensor reflex: when you step on something sharp and withdraw that leg, your other leg is simultaneously extended by this …