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Understanding the Physiology of Health and Illness

Neurones, the reflex arc and the synapse

  • 3 things to know
  • AS 7

Overview

Reflex action, myelin sheath and node of Ranvier.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

Why does transmission travel in only one direction across a synapse?

Key term

What is a reflex action?

Key term

Why are reflex actions useful?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What is a reflex action?

    Model answer

    A reflex action is a rapid, automatic response to a stimulus that happens without conscious thought.

  2. 2

    Give the sequence of a reflex arc.

    Model answer

    A reflex arc runs from the stimulus to a receptor, along a sensory neurone to a relay neurone in the spinal cord, out along a motor neurone to an effector, which produces the response.

  3. 3

    Why are reflex actions useful?

    Model answer

    Reflex actions protect the body by producing a response faster than a conscious decision could, as when a hand is pulled away from a hot surface.

  4. 4

    What is an effector?

    Model answer

    An effector is a muscle or a gland that carries out the response to a stimulus.

  5. 5

    Why does a reflex arc not pass through the cerebrum?

    Model answer

    A reflex arc is routed through the spinal cord so that the response is not delayed by conscious processing in the cerebrum.

  6. 6

    What is the myelin sheath, and what does it do?

    Model answer

    The myelin sheath is a fatty layer wrapped around an axon that insulates the fibre and greatly speeds the transmission of the impulse.

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