Hey docs, I am quite confused after one of my classes today. My professor was talking about reflexes and nociceptors she stated how they are controlled subconsciously and that their signal goes to the spinal cord stops and a signal is sent back to the peripheries without the signal ever reaching the brain. Her example was when you touch a hot stove, the nociceptors in the hand send a signal to the spinal cord and then the spinal cord sends a signal to the alpha motor neurons to pull the hand off the stove in the absence of the signal ever reaching the brain.
My question is whether or not I am right by thinking this is completely wrong or does the professor have any valid points?
Thanks for any response.
Hey Nick, this is correct as it relates to the withdrawal reflex: Withdrawal reflex - Wikipedia.
This occurs in living organisms to mitigate damage and ensure survivability. It’s important to remember that pain and nociception are not the same and we can have one without the other.
Hey Dr. Ray, thankyou for the quick response, I guess I’m still alittle confused though. Does this mean that in the withdrawal reflex the spinal cord is working independently from the brain since the signal never goes to the brain??
thankyou
Yes, in this context, it is a reflex loop at the spinal cord level in order to minimize damage to an area without conscious awareness. This isn’t to say that after the withdrawal reflex the person doesn’t become consciously aware of the situation. Does that make sense?
Yes doc that makes more sense now. If I may ask though if the person in this hot stove scenario did feel pain does that mean the signal was sent to the brain since pain is an output of the brain??
It would mean the person perceived threat and became consciously aware of the threat which may or may not have been coupled with tissue damage.
Gotcha, thanks for taking the time to answer my questions Dr. Ray you and the rest of the BBM crew are awesome!!
Of course! Happy to help.