Talk:Reflex

Latest comment: 1 month ago by 42.105.48.169 in topic Anatomy and physiology

Untitled edit

In the remark about Pavlov, conditional reflex is correct - please do not change it to conditioned reflex. seglea 00:45, 1 Dec 2003 (UTC) (Professor of Psychology, PhD, umpteen other letters after name, etc, etc - look, I know what I'm talking about on this one).

Physiology edit

The physiology of reflexes is a key factor missing from this article. It would be greatly appreciated if an expert on the topic could put in necessary information. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.101.89.179 (talk) 15:22, 1 June 2008 (UTC)Reply

Out of date definition edit

In medicine, a reflex a.k.a. a reflex action is an involuntary reaction of the body to a stimulus. It is performed in consequence of an impulse or impression transmitted along afferent nerves to a nerve center, from which it is reflected to an efferent nerve, and so calls into action certain muscles, organs, or cells.

grasping reflex? edit

It's mentioned on [1], but I don't know what is it. Samohyl Jan 16:36, 25 May 2005 (UTC)Reply


Grasping reflex: in response to an object pressed against its palm, the infant attempts to grab the object. — Preceding unsigned comment added by A personnnn (talkcontribs) 02:16, 11 September 2011 (UTC)Reply

What does it mean? edit

On my doctors progress notes, he states that my reflexes are +2(in regards to my "knee-jerk" reaction), and that my plantar reflexes are down. I am wondering both what the "+2" could mean, and what does it mean if my reflexes are down? How exactly does the rating scale work?

Reflex in linguistics? edit

I was looking for what reflex meant in linguistics


It would be nice if you could elaborate it on reflex (linguistics). Samohyl Jan 18:39, 15 February 2006 (UTC)Reply
Iopq, do you mean like in reflexive verb or reflexive pronoun, perhaps? 74.141.161.180 00:56, 10 October 2007 (UTC)Reply

is it just me or is that picture way to small to be readable? edit

unless you have a mac and can zoom in thats like.... completely unreadable

Autonomic Nervous system edit

I recall there being exceptions to the rule that the autonomic nervous system is entirely involuntary.


You're right. The enteric nervous system is the big exception as I recall. Robotsintrouble 14:08, 4 November 2006 (UTC)Reply
I thought it was involuntary although we can influence it through cognitive actions (e.g. you can control your respiratory rate) and through psychological conditioning (salivating/production of gastric juices when you see appetising food (enteric nervous system) etc). Our control over the autonomic nervous system should be included in the article i think.

Merger? edit

Should this article be merged into reflexology or is it different enough to warrant its own article? NorthernThunder 03:56, 16 December 2006 (UTC)Reply

I'd oppose merge, reflexology is more of a massage technique. A reflex action is different. Robotsintrouble 08:41, 17 December 2006 (UTC)Reply

Are learned reflexes mediated by a reflex arc? edit

According to the article

A reflex action or reflex is a biological control system linking stimulus to response and mediated by a reflex arc.

Is it true also for learned reflexes that they are mediated by a reflex arc, or rather only for built-in ones? If the latter is the case, then the sentence in the article should be fixed. --Dan —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 62.245.110.111 (talk) 11:42, 1 March 2007 (UTC).Reply

Learned or learnt? edit

If the former, please, revert the well-meant but incorrect edit from 29 May 2007 by User:87.113.77.216 (contribs). (“Reflexes can be built-in or learnt.”) His only other contribution to Wikipedia happens to be wrong. Personally, I don’t know.
6birc, 18:55, 5 October 2007 (UTC)Reply

Both are technically correct, although 'learnt' is a bit idiosyncratic in American circles, much like spilled/spilt. Amazinrick 04:50, 30 October 2007 (UTC)Reply

Hiccups? edit

Are Hiccups examples of human reflexes and should be included in the list on this page? I'm not an expert but thought there might be a case... --Les

The dollar bill experiment edit

It might be nice to change it to a ruler, so afterwards you can determine your reaction time for this experiment. Plus the fact that a whole lot of people don't readily have acces to dollar bills :)

hey wutz up —Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.59.191.11 (talk) 20:40, 19 March 2008 (UTC)Reply

looking for translation of this german wikipedia page on Reflexes - it looks to be very good edit

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eigenreflex

They have so many more reflexes listed for the medical physical exam than we do. It would be really nice to have this page. wikiproject medicine needs your help! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Medicine#Looking_for_Translation_from_German_Wikipedia_page_on_REFLEXES

Thanks Tkjazzer (talk) 18:34, 18 June 2008 (UTC)Reply

Mayo and NINDS edit

Scoring of reflexes: two different systems compared (we should discuss both systems here): PMID 9489542. JFW | T@lk 21:58, 22 June 2008 (UTC) reflex action is an involuntary action or response. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 119.95.126.96 (talk) 09:33, 4 August 2008 (UTC)Reply

Redirect edit

"Myotatic reflex" redirects here, but no explanation is given. As far as I can tell, it's just a synonym for "reflex".Fuzzform (talk) 01:02, 9 October 2008 (UTC)Reply

Is there such a thing as a "Voluntary reflex action?" edit

Someone recently rewrote this article's lead section, adding a description of "voluntary reflex actions" and "involuntary reflex actions." Is the new version of the lead section still accurate? Jarble (talk) 06:53, 22 April 2017 (UTC)Reply

@Iztwoz: Thank you for correcting this error. Should we peer review this article to ensure that it remains accurate? Jarble (talk) 19:45, 22 April 2017 (UTC)Reply

Hello Jarble - probably a good idea. It's still only a start class and would be good to see additional material here. best --Iztwoz (talk) 08:38, 23 April 2017 (UTC)Reply

page needs non-human reflexes!! where are they? edit

sorry to have to interrupt this little humans-come-first-fantasy... but human reflexes are of a pityfully limited range, from as i understand it our INCONSISTENT needs in the places our genes have mixed, and then flexibility, for mostly temporary retention, UNLIKE with refined encodings/Gexpression+ .

COMPARED, to amazing stuff in the natural world, like say a grasshopper's jump, or (some of ) a bat's microsentivites... a mating-male beetle's PRE-understanding, of how to wrestle with another, etc.


Surely wonders like SWARM instincts, deserve a listing, if not a LINK. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Vurrath (talkcontribs) 13:38, 2 January 2018 (UTC)Reply

Instincts should fall under a separate category. Maybe deserving a link here, but to my knowledge, instincts don't operate via a central nervous system. I am working on incorporating non-human reflexes to round out the topic --F4at96 (talk) 14:50, 25 October 2022 (UTC)Reply

Wiki Education assignment: BYU-Biophysics, CELL 568 edit

  This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 30 August 2022 and 16 December 2022. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): F4at96 (article contribs). Peer reviewers: JW302, Koberg27.

— Assignment last updated by Logan753 (talk) 16:13, 17 October 2022 (UTC)Reply

Anatomy and physiology edit

Reflex action 42.105.48.169 (talk) 09:39, 31 March 2024 (UTC)Reply