DATE:________

Experiment: 01

Objects:

To observe superficial reflexes in a human subject.

Theory

Neuron

Neurons are nerve cells that are constantly sending signals to your brain, muscles and glands.
You have over 100 billion neurons in your brain sending signals. The signals help the different
parts of your body communicate with each other. Neurons send chemical signals
called neurotransmitters, and they work quickly to help you react to everything going on around
you.

Resting Membrane Potential

A resting potential is the normal state of an axon. It's like the neuron is at rest, and therefore it's
called the resting potential. During a resting potential, there is a higher concentration of
potassium ions inside the axon and a higher concentration of sodium ions outside the axon. This
makes the inside of the axon have a more negative charge at rest than the outside of the axon.

Action potential

Upon the beginning of action potential, If a neuron has a message that needs to be sent, sodium
channels in the axon open, and sodium rushes into the axon. This makes the inside of the axon
more positive relative to the outside. This sets off the chain reaction, as more sodium channels
open up a little further down the axon, causing that part of the axon to become more positive, and
so on.

Reflex Action

The nervous system produces involuntary or automatic responses to stimuli using nervous relays
called reflex arcs. Reflex arcs always encompass a sensory receptor, sensory neuron, motor
neuron, and an effector; an interneuron may also connect the sensory and motor neurons. The
neurons of the reflex arc may be located in the spine or brainstem, but reflexes are programmed
without input from higher brain regions (e.g., temporal lobe, frontal lobe).

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.
Reflex Arc:

The process of the sensory neuron carrying the stimulus to the spinal column and brain, and then
the brain sending a message to the motor neuron is called a reflex arc.

Components of Reflex Arc:

Receptor: the receptor responds to an electrical signal.

Afferent pathway: this pathway sends the action onto the integrating centre (sensory
neuron).

Integrating centre: this is typically the nervous system and is where all of the action
potentials are processed. Once the information is processed the integrating centre determines
how the body should respond.

Efferent pathway: the response then travels through this pathway to the effector organ
(motor neuron).

Effector organ: this organ carries out the response to all of the above. The organ responding
is usually a muscle or gland in the body.

Cranial Nerves

Your cranial nerves are pairs of nerves that connect your brain to different parts of your head,
neck, and trunk. There are 12 of them, each named for their function or structure. Each nerve
also has a corresponding Roman numeral between I and XII. This is based off their location from
front to back. For example, your olfactory nerve is closest to the front of your head, so it’s
designated as I. Their functions are usually categorized as being either sensory or motor. Sensory
nerves are involved with your senses, such as smell, hearing, and touch. Motor nerves control the
movement and function of muscles or glands.
Spinal Nerves

Your spinal nerves come out from the sides of your spine, or backbone. The spine has
33 vertebrae or irregularly shaped bones, and inside these bones is the spinal cord, which the
spinal nerves branch out from.
Your spine has four curves and is divided into five regions, based on where the curves occur.
These regions are the: cervical (neck), thoracic (chest/trunk), lumbar (low back), sacral (pelvis)
and the coccygeal (tail bone). Each region of the spine has a specific function and a different
number of vertebrae.

Cervical Nerves: 8 cervical (C1-C8) nerves emerge from the cervical spine; cervical means of
the neck (there are 8 cervical nerves, but only 7 cervical vertebra)

Thoracic Nerves: 12 thoracic (T1-T12) nerves emerge from the thoracic spine; thoracic means
of the chest

Lumbar nerves: 5 lumbar (L1-L5) nerves emerge from the lumbar spine; lumbar means from
the lower back region

Sacral Nerves: 5 sacral (S1-S5) nerves emerge from the sacral bone; sacral means of the
sacrum, the bony plate at the base of the vertebral column

Coccygeal Nerve: 1 coccygeal nerve emerge from the coccygeal bone; coccygeal means of the
coccyx, the tailbone
Procedure:

Name of the Procedure & Mechanism Result Centre

reflex involved
Corneal reflex The corneal reflex test (blink test) Blinking of eyes Cranial
examines the reflex pathway involving nerves V and
cranial nerves V and VII. Classically VII
the provider lightly touches a wisp of
cotton on the patient’s cornea. This
foreign body sensation should cause
the patient to reflexively blink.
Consensual The reflex is consensual: Normally
Light reflex light that is directed in one eye
produces pupil constriction in both
eyes. The direct response is the
change in pupil size in the eye to
which the light is directed (e.g., if the
light is shone in the right eye, the right
pupil constricts). The consensual
response is the change in pupil size in
the eye opposite to the eye to which
the light is directed (e.g., if the light is
shone in the right eye, the left pupil
also constricts consensually). The
pupillary light reflex allows the eye to
adjust the amount of light reaching the
retina and protects the photoreceptors
from bright lights. The iris contains
two sets of smooth muscles that
control the size of the pupil

Abdominal Make the subject lie down Contraction of Thoracic

reflex comfortably on a bed in the supine abdominal muscles nerves 6 to
position. Uncover the abdomen and 12
see that his abdominal muscles are
well relaxed. With a blunt object
gently stroke on the abdominal skin
from lateral to the medial aspect in all
four quadrants. Observe the
contraction of the abdominal muscles
resulting in deviation of umbilicus
towards the area stimulated. A normal
positive response usually involves a
contraction of the abdominal muscles,
and the umbilicus moving towards the
source of the stimulation.
Plantar Reflex The plantarreflex is a reflex elicited Lumbar
when the sole of the foot is stimulated Flexor: the toes curve nerve 5,
with a blunt instrument. The reflex can down and inwards, Sacral nerve
take one of two forms. In normal and the foot inverts; 1
adults, the plantar reflex causes a this is the response
downward response of seen in healthy adults
the hallux (flexion). An upward
response (extension) of the hallux is .
known as the Babinski Extensor:the hallux d
response or Babinski sign, named after orsiflexes, and the
the neurologist Joseph Babinski. The other toes fan out;
presence of the Babinski sign can this is Babinski's
identify disease of the spinal sign, which indicates
cord and brain in adults, and also damage to the central
exists as a primitive reflex in infants.[ nervous system if
elicited in an adult,
but normal reflex if
elicited in infants

Observation:

Name of The Reflex Result Observed

Significance of Each Reflex:

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Result:

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