What is Reflex Arc?
What Is a Reflex Arc? Have you ever been cooking and accidentally bumped your hand against a hot pan? Likely, before you could even register what happened, you jerked your hand away, maybe even clutching your hot skin. When something like this happens, it feels like you simply react to the situation automatically, without thinking. Although biologically this might seem impossible, it's exactly what really happens in your nervous system.
Although we think of the brain as being the boss of all of our actions and thoughts, some actions actually take place without the brain's input. These reactions are called reflexes. However, very few reactions are actually true reflexes. People usually think catching an object flying at their head, like a baseball, is a reflex, but it is not. The information goes to your brain for processing before you actually respond. Thus, some of us are much better at catching the baseball than others.
A true reflex arc involves only a few neurons, or cells of the nervous system, and the information goes only from your body to your spinal cord, not your brain. Let's look at the cells that make up the reflex arc and how they work.
Have you ever been cooking and accidentally bumped your hand against a hot pan? Likely, before you could even register what happened, you jerked your hand away, maybe even clutching your hot skin. When something like this happens, it feels like you simply react to the situation automatically, without thinking. Although biologically this might seem impossible, it's exactly what really happens in your nervous system.
Although we think of the brain as being the boss of all of our actions and thoughts, some actions actually take place without the brain's input. These reactions are called reflexes. However, very few reactions are actually true reflexes. People usually think catching an object flying at their head, like a baseball, is a reflex, but it is not. The information goes to your brain for processing before you actually respond. Thus, some of us are much better at catching the baseball than others.
A true reflex arc involves only a few neurons, or cells of the nervous system, and the information goes only from your body to your spinal cord, not your brain. Let's look at the cells that make up the reflex arc and how they work.
