In medicine, a reflex is an involuntary reaction of the body to a stimulus.
A 1913 edition of Webster's Dictionary defines reflex as meaning
- "Of, pertaining to, or produced by, stimulus or excitation without the necessary intervention of consciousness."
- "any action performed involuntarily in consequence of an impulse or impression transmitted along afferent nerves to a nerve center, from which it is reflected to an efferent nerve, and so calls into action certain muscles, organs, or cells."
Reflex actions seen in humans include:
- accommodation reflex
- Achilles reflex
- Babinski reflex
- biceps stretch reflex
- brachioradialis reflex
- mammalian diving reflex
- gag reflex
- Gastroc-Soleus reflex
- light reflex
- patellar reflex
- photic sneeze reflex
- pupillary reflex
- quadriceps reflex
- salivation
- triceps stretch reflex
- this is a very poor stub article -- much more is needed