A sympathetic spinal cord reflex is when a reflex is performed and then a signal is sent to the brain. One great example is the sympathetic knee reflex. When a doctor hits your knee with a rubber hammer right on the Golgi tendon and it promotes a reflex that is a prime example of a sympathetic spinal cord reflex. The flexion of the of your knee come from your spinal cord. The primary spinal nerve fibers are coming from L4, L2, L3. When your struck with the rubber hammer, a message is sent to the somatic sensory neuron to the posterior horn. It is then sent to the motor movement center or the anterior horn to the ventral root and finally to the spinal nerve to reacted and move the lower part of your leg. When the hammer hits the Golgi tendon, it provides a stimulus that exceeded minimal threshold which then uses A fibers to conduct nerve impulses rapidly. When minimal threshold is reached it is ready for the next step called relative. This is when your body is ready and is anticipating the next action. Finally the last step is called absolute. This entire process is called extensor reflex. When the body is at rest a cell stores potassium inside and sodium outside. Then when a person reaches relative there is a state of equilibrium between the two, and finally when the body is in absolute there is potassium stored on the outside and sodium in the inside. A nerve impulse is then sent through the preganglionic axons. It is then converted from a electrical form to a chemical form of acetylcholine. The reason being is so that chemical messages can be controlled more then an electrical message. This is done so that a muscle can be contracted by how serve the stimuli. So the muscle can release more chemicals for a serve stimuli and less for smaller ones. This entire process is all preformed every time a sympathetic spinal cord reflex takes place.
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