You have just touched a hot stove. Describe the sequence of events that occurred within your nervous system from the point you touched the hot stove with your hand to the point you jerked your hand away from the stove. Your answer should include the name of this neural network, the types of neurons involved at each step in the sequence, and why this action would be considered a "no-brainer."

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer will include that the simplest neural network is the reflex arc, which occurs when a stimulus, such as touching a hot stove, provokes an automatic response. Such reflexes occur within the spinal cord, without any help from the brain. Pain is detected in your finger by a sensory neuron (a nerve cell that carries messages from the senses toward the central nervous system). Instantly, the sensory neuron fires off a message to your spinal cord. Inside the spinal cord, the sensory neuron synapses with a connector neuron (a nerve cell that links two others). The connector neuron activates a motor neuron (a cell that carries commands from the central nervous system to muscle and glands). The muscle fibers are made of effector cells, which are cells capable of producing a response. The muscle cells contract and cause your finger to withdraw. No brain activity is required for a reflex arc to occur, although information regarding this painful event will go to the brain to be stored after your body has already reacted to protect itself.