Biology · Class 8–10

Reflex Action

See how your body pulls your hand away from a hot object before you even think about it.

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🧠 Remember it

Reflex Action

Reflex arc: Receptor → Sensory neuron → Spinal cord → Motor neuron → Muscle. The brain is bypassed for speed — "the spinal cord decides, the brain finds out later."

🌏 In real life

Touch a hot tawa by accident and your hand jerks back before you even feel the pain — the spinal cord fires the response instantly to protect you.

📝 Quick notes

  • A reflex action is a quick, automatic response to a stimulus, not under conscious control.
  • The pathway it follows is called the reflex arc.
  • Order: receptor (skin) → sensory neuron → spinal cord (relay) → motor neuron → effector (muscle).
  • It is processed by the spinal cord, which makes it faster than a brain-routed response.

🎯 Test yourself

Which part of the nervous system controls a reflex action?

The spinal cord.

Learn it fully — free

See the animated, step-by-step Reflex Action lesson on Syllab

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