Reflex Physiology

Extract

[...] Also as illustrated in Figure 4 the angle of the knee jerk increased during the reflex away from the body in an extending movement. Figures 5 and 6 also show that for both the voluntary knee jerk and the knee jerk with the Jendrassik maneuver the latency is fluctuating and the traces for all 20 trials are different. Figure 3. Figure 4. Normal Knee Jerks Trail # Latency Amplitude Dev. Figure 5. Voluntary Knee Jerks Trial # Latency 1 0.39 2 0.28 3 0.32 4 0.35 5 0.3 6 0.38 7 0.36 8 0.34 9 0.35 10 0.27 11 0.31 12 0.26 13 0.33 14 0.32 15 0.39 16 0.3 17 0.33 18 0.3 19 0.32 20 0.32 Average 0.38 Std. [...]

[...] Methods Procedures were followed exactly as detailed in Foundations of Biology: Cell and Organ Physiology (Faculty of the Department of Neurobiology & Behavior, pp120-126). Results Figures 1 and 2 show the calibration of the computer to the real angle of the lever arms. The calibration curve in Figure 2 shows a slope of .8433. Figure 1. Calibration Trail Measured Computer Angle Deflectio n Figure 2. Figure 3 shows the amplitudes and latency times for twenty trials of the Patellar reflex. [...]

[...] This supports our predictions and supports other findings that say that a response that goes to the brain takes longer then a reflex response going to the spinal cord. Our hypothesis for the Jendrassik maneuver was also confirmed however our predictions can not be verified due to inconsistencies in amplitude. Further testing would be needed. Using the same calculations used to determine significant differences in the voluntary reflex vs. the normal reflex did not yield useful comparisons because the amplitudes were highly inconsistent and the standard deviations were too high. [...]