Flexor Reflex (Nursing)

00:00 The next reflex is the flexor reflex.

00:04 The flexor reflex causes withdrawal of a limb to avoid injury or pain.

00:10 Think of this reflex, we are thinking of touching a hot stove or stepping on a nail.

00:18 In this reflex, the sensory impulse is going to be something of pain and the dendrites of pain sensitive neurons are going to send that sensory information to the sensory neuron which is going to then go to the spinal cord And then at the spinal cord, you will get integration of the signal.

00:44 Now this is a little different than what we've seen before and that the flexor reflex is going to be intersegmental.

00:53 The reason why is because this reflex is going to require us to move the whole leg or in the case of touching a hot pan, move the whole arm.

01:04 And because of that, we're going to have to contract multiple muscle groups and so you will have interneurons that descend from where the sensory neuron took place ascend from where the sensory neuron took place and as well as the interneuron in the actual synapses where the sensory neuron comes in.

01:30 Following this, a nerve impulse is then sent to the motor neurons toward the effector.

01:38 At the effector, the flexor muscle is going to contract causing the leg to withdraw away from the pain or in the case of touching a hot stove or a hot pan, withdraw the arm away from the pan.