REFLEX SYSTEMS.ppt

* REFLEX SYSTEMS Reflexes are an involuntary response to internal or external stimuli which are (generally) protective of the body. A partial list of reflexes follows: i) Auditory - Loud noise causes eyes to turn toward noise ii) Corneal - Light touch of cornea causes eye blink iii) Cough - Food or liquid in pharynx causes coughing to clear airway iv) Gag - Stimulation of back of tongue causes gag v) Pupillary - Light causes pupils to constrict vi) Accommodation - Change of focus point changes size of pupil vii) Muscle - To be discussed in detail viii) Movement - To be discussed in detail Cerebral Cortex Thalamus Red Nucleus Basal ganglia Medulla Cerebellum Spinal Cord Afferent axon (from Sensory Cell) Efferent axon (to Muscle) BRAIN ORGANIZATION Pons MUSCLE RECEPTORS The main job of muscle is for movement and/or force production. Muscle also must contain sensory cells to keep the brain (cerebellum) aware of where the body’s various parts are with respect to the environment There are 5 classes of receptors in muscles , tendons and joints: Free endings ( pain, temperature, etc.) Paciniform corpuscles (vibration, pressure) Joint receptors (state of segments forming the joint, pain) Golgi Tendon Organs (force) Muscle spindles (length, speed of stretch) REFLEX SYSTEMS III Elements which comprise the MYOTATIC REFLEX LOOP (engineer’s view) Muscle Dynamics Muscle Spindle Synapse with Anterior Horn Cell - motorneuron efferent Stretch Mechanical Coupling GIa afferent To analyze the ‘what’, ‘how’, and ‘when’ of this system, we would have to Model the muscle dynamics, spindle and anterior horn cell synapse Model the encoding and decoding of spike trains in neurons Recognize that the effects of other receptors and higher centers are neglected - motorneuron efferent REFLEX SYSTEMS II Interaction of inhibition and excitation on a motorneuron From agonist muscle spindles From antagonist muscle spindles interneurones IPSP