Reflexes Flashcards
How is the golgi tendon reflex protective?
Prevents muscle contracting so hard that tendon insertion is torn away from bone
What type of flexion is the flexor reflex?
Ipsilateral flexion
Why is the crossed extensor reflex much slower than the stretch reflex?
nociceptor fibres are narrower than spindle fibre afferents, they conduct slower
How can inhibition of the GTO be overidden?
Voluntary excitation of alpha motoneurones
What is the clinical relevance of reflexes?
Assesses integrity of whole spinal cord unit, allows spinal level localisation of a problem
What is the result of a larger pain stimulus on the response?
input spreads through several spinal segments
greater stimulus, greater spinal spread larger response
What is the effect of facillitation?
multiple inputs are active together, sufficient excitation to bring other neurons to threshold
