Motor Reflexes Flashcards
What are the spinal reflexes?
Myotatic (stretch), Golgi tendon, crossed extensor
What are the brainstem/midbrain reflexes?
Vestibular, righting, suckle, yawn, eye/head movements
What are the cortical reflexes?
Placing reaction and hopping reaction
Which brainstem/midbrain reflexes occur even in the absence of a cortex?
Suckle, yawn, eye/head movements
What are some of the purposes of reflexes?
Protection, correct action without conscious thought, the need to respond quickly
How do you tell the difference between a reflex and volitional movement?
SPEED - reflexes are faster
What is volitional movement?
Conscious choice of a movement at your own will
Does a reflex require the cortical areas of the brain?
NO - only needs the CNS levels (spinal cord/brainstem)
Volitional movement requires the cortex
What initiates volitional movement?
Higher cognition and/or sensory stimuli
How is the specificity of a reflex?
Very high
How many synapses take place during the myotatic reflex?
1 - monosynaptic
During the myotatic reflex, is the muscle active or passive?
Passive
Provide a summary of the basic actions of the myotatic reflex?
Tap patellar tendon - which stretches the muscle
The muscle spindle initiates the reflex
The quads then contract and shorten to protect the muscle from damage by the stretching
Any fibers outside of the muscle spindle capsule
Extrafusal
Fibers within the muscle spindle capsule, that are a part of the muscle spindle
Intrafusal
What are the 3 components to a muscle spindle fiber?
Motor component (efferent) nuclear bag fiber and nuclear chain fiber (both afferent)
What are the afferent components of a muscle spindle fiber? (just sensory)
Nuclear bag fiber and nuclear chain fiber
What innervates both the nuclear bag and nuclear chain fibers?
Ia fiber innervation
What is the Ia afferent fiber sensitive to?
Length of a muscle AND
How fast the length is changing
(rapid change = Increased action potentials)
The Ia afferent fiber that innervates both the nuclear bag fiber and nuclear chain fiber has a fast conduction velocity. Describe the threshold, myelination and diameter?
The threshold is low, which makes it very sensitive
There is a lot of myelination and the fiber diameter is large
What innervates just the nuclear chain fibers?
Secondary afferent, made of group II fibers