The Reflex In context, a reflex is an element of motor organisation which allows a certain kind of stimulus to evoke a specific kind of motor response. A reflex belongs to the ‘most automatic’ category of movement. It may be compared with a skilled, voluntary movement categorised as ‘least automatic’. Neurological tradition has it that the ‘most automatic’ movements are allowed by the ‘lower level’ of motor control, the segmental reflex pathways of the spinal cord.
The ‘least automatic’ movements originate in, or are directed by, the ‘highest level’ of control in the sensory-motor cortex of the cerebrum. At that level the programmes of movement are expressed and subsequently modified by the cerebellum and by sensory feedback systems. As it will be shown, too strict an adherence to neurological tradition is not always to the best advantage of the physiotherapist. The balance between the…
