Reflex Arc Lab

Intro:

Nerve impulses follow routes through the nervous system called nerve pathways.
Some of the simplest nerve pathways consist of only two neurons that
communicate across a single synapse. Reflexes are rapid, involuntary responses to
stimuli which occur over simple nerve pathways called reflex arcs. Involuntary
reflexes are very fast, traveling in milliseconds. The fastest impulses can reach 320
miles per hour.

Reflexes have five essential components:

1. The receptor at the end of a sensory neuron reacts to a stimulus.

2. The sensory neuron conducts nerve impulses along an efferent pathway toward
the CNS.

3. The integration centre consists of one or more synapses in the CNS.

4. A motor neuron conducts a nerve impulse along an efferent pathway from the
integration centre to an effector.

5. An effector responds to the efferent impulses by contracting (if the effector is a

muscle fibre) or secreting a product (if the effector is a gland).

Most reflexes are polysynaptic (involving more than two neurons) and involve
activity of interneurons (or association neurons) in the integration centre. Some
reflexes, however, are monosynaptic (one synapse) and only involve two
neurons: one sensory and one motor. Since there is some delay in neural
transmission at the synapses, the more synapses that are encountered in a reflex
pathway, the more time that is required to cause the reflex.

Purpose:

To study the simplest function unit of the nervous system: the reflex arc.
Method:

Reaction Rate:

A ruler is held by one partner between the outstretched index finger and thumb of
the dominant hand, so that the top of the thumb is level with the 0cm line on the
ruler. The assistant instructed their partner to catch the ruler as soon as possible
after it has been released. The assistant recorded the distance between the bottom
of the ruler and the top of the athletes thumb where the ruler has been caught.
Three trials were performed for each hand.

Reaction Rate Trials for Left and Right Hands

Right Hand Left Hand

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3
(length in (length in (length in (length in (length in (length in
cm) cm) cm) cm) cm) cm)
Kristian 17cm 8cm 8cm 15cm 12cm 12cm
Andrew 16cm 8cm 3cm 18cm 14cm 11cm
Adam 7cm 12cm 5cm 10cm 11cm 7cm
Amanda 11cm 11cm 5cm 21cm 18cm 7cm
Matthew 6cm 9cm 4cm 14cm 9cm 2cm