Withdrawal reflex

The nociceptive withdrawal reflex (NWR) is a spinal reflexintended to protect the body from damaging stimuli. The classic example is when you touch something hot and withdraw your body part from the hot object. The heat stimulates temperatureand pain receptorsin the skin, triggering a sensory impulse that travels to the central nervous system. The sensory neuron then synapses with interneuronsthat connect to motor neurons. Some of these send motor impulses to the flexorsto allow withdrawal; some motor neurons send inhibitory impulses to the extensors so flexionis not inhibited - this is referred to as reciprocal innervation. While all of this occurs, other interneurons relay the sensory information up to the brainso that the person becomes aware of the pain and what happened.

See also

• Interneuron
• Nociceptor
• Reflex

External links

• Ole K. Andersen, SMI, Aalborg University - Physiological and Pharmacological modulation of the human nociceptive withdrawal reflex

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Withdrawal+reflex Wikipedia article Withdrawal reflex.