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REFLEX ARC. Presented by: Jessica Forbes. Introduction. If you touch a hot stove, you do not stop to think about how your body tells you that it’s hot This is an example of REFLEX ARC
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REFLEX ARC Presented by: Jessica Forbes
Introduction • If you touch a hot stove, you do not stop to think about how your body tells you that it’s hot • This is an example of REFLEX ARC • the simplest possible arrangement of elements to permit a response to stimuli (in this example the heat), and in which the final element in the chain is skeletal muscle • simplest nerve pathway
Reflex Arc Works By • feeling heat on your body is detected by specialized receptors in the skin • nerve pulse is then carried to the spinal cord. • sensory neuron passes the impulse on to an interneuron • interneuron passes impulse to a motor neuron • motor neuron causes muscles to contract and pull away from stimuli http://img.tfd.com/dorland/thumbs/arc_reflex.jpg
This Happens Fast • all of this happens in less than a second • before the information even travels and reaches the brain • once the message reaches the brain, you will begin to feel the pain • reflexes are involuntary and often unconscious • you move your hand away before you "know why" you're doing it http://www.free-ed.net/sweethaven/MedTech/NurseCare/fig91902_05.jpg
Five Essential Components • The receptor (finger, hand, etc) • The sensory neuron (travels message to the interneuron) • The interneuron (in spinal cord) • The motor neuron (travels message to the muscle) • The effector (the muscle)
Now For A Visual Example http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/flash/bireflexarc.swf
Sources • Di Giuseppe, Maurice, and Angela Vavitsas. Biology 12 . Toronto, Ontario: Nelson & thomson Canada Limited, 2003. • Norton, W.. "Reflex Arcs." Animated Tutorials: Introductory Biology . 2006. Sumanas Inc. 7 Jun 2007 <http://www.sumanasinc.com/webcontent/anisamples/nonmajo rsbiology/reflexarcs.html>. • "Revision that's easier to digest." BBC. BBC. 7 Jun 2007 <http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/flash/bireflexarc.sw f>. • "Somatic Reflex Arc ." 7 Jun 2007 <http://education.vetmed.vt.edu/Curriculum/VM8054/Labs/Lab9 /Examples/exsomarc.htm>.