Patellar Lab Report Essay

In this classical conditioning experiment, the tapping of the person’s knee with a clinical hammer is the UCS, as it is a naturally occurring stimulus that elicits the UCR, which in this case is the reflexive knee jerk action. The distinctive sound given out by the buzzer was initially the NS, but eventually became the CS, after 20 to 30 pairings with the UCS within close intervals of 5 seconds during the experiment. It has become a stimulus that is subsequently capable of eliciting a learned reflex response on its own (CR) which was originally an UCR, because it has been paired with the original UCS.

The participants ran for five minutes at there own pace to warm up. To randomize the order the participants were randomly assigned which condition to complete first, barefoot vs. shod. During the experiment the participants ran for two minutes at 3.05 m*s^-1, rested for two minutes, then ran for two minutes at Then had a two-minute rest period and completed the same procedure for the other condition. Each participants stride length was assessed using the distance measured between the first and second initial contact of the left foot.

A simple spinal reflex is a reflex—involuntary, graded, patterned response to a stimulus—that is produced via a single synapse between sensory axons and motor neurons and confined to the spinal cord. In this experiment, two simple spinal reflexes—the myotactic reflex and the H-reflex—were stimulated. We compared a) the latency period—the amount of time between a stimulus and the effector response— and the amplitude—magnitude of an electrical signal—of each reflex; then, b) the effect of the Jendrassik Maneuver (JM) upon the latency period and amplitude of each respective reflex. For the myotactic response, a mechanical stimulus, a sharp strike of the patellar tendon, was utilized to elicit a signal in stretch receptors; however, to trigger the H-reflex, an electrical impulse was applied. These reflexes originate from an action potential produced by a sensory neuron when a stimulus is applied. Sensory neurons transmit the action potentials to an integrating center—the spinal cord—where a response is determined. Then, this response is taken back to the effector organ via motor neurons. The reflex occurs while the brain is becoming aware of the stimulus. Furthermore, the myotactic reflex is

A baseline test was measured for all of the participants. The ground electrode was placed on the boney part of the anterior side of the wrist. The negative input was set on the flexor carpi radialis muscle, and the positive input was placed on the brachioradialis muscle both on the right arm. The dynamometer was placed in the right hand without any pressure on it and the participant laid his/her arm on the table in a relaxed position. The EMG started the muscle reading while the arm was in a relaxed position, and then the participant quickly squeezed the dynamometer as hard as they could for a second or two. A week later the same participants laid their arm on a frozen ice pack, big enough to cover the whole forearm, for fifteen minutes straight. The electrodes were then placed in the same exact spots, and the test was taken exactly like the baseline tests were. During these tests all of the cords for each electrode was laid on the table so they were not crossing or touching each other while the measurements were being

Some of the primary-secondary nerve synapses are ineffective and action potentials from the primary neuron will not activate the secondary neuron. Bruxism and other conditions that may cause chronic and/or intense noxious stimulation can result in central sensitization. Central sensitization is the process of these ineffective synapses becoming effective. An example of this is when there is an action potential created from the afferent nerve innervating a muscle of mastication that is experiencing a noxious stimuli (such as bruxism), which activates the secondary afferent nerve through the newly effective synapse. If the secondary afferent nerve, which usually receives nociceptive input from the teeth, further activates the neuron in the brain responsible for pain perception, there will be a perception that the pain is occurring in the teeth rather than the original site of origin, the muscle of mastication. This results in referred pain from the muscle of mastication to the

Science, as yet, has not been able to confirm how reflexology works. Here I explore the theories surrounding reflexology.

Reflexes protect us from danger, a reflex is a reaction from a muscle that happens instantly in response to stimulation.Without studying reflexes we won't know if a human begin nervous system development and function is working properly.Reflexes allow us to understand the body and how it's work, also it allows us to figure out clues that our spinal cord, nerve root could be damaged or our sense of feeling is off.One clinical application is the testing of these reflexes one is called Babinski which id the stroking of infants foot on the lateral side.Another one is cremasteric reflex which is the stroking of skin if the upper thigh.Ankle jerk reflex is also one which the tap to calcaneal tendon to see the reaction from tibia nerve.One simple

Pain is the sensation that we perceive to be unpleasant, which leads to behavioural change to prevent further damage and to assist in recovery. Sensory information is detected at the peripheral nerve terminals situated at the epidermal layer of the skin, which then coveys the information to the spinal cord to promote ‘spinal withdrawal reflexes’. The information is passed along primary afferent fibres and there are three different types, which determine the intensity of the sensation. The three different types of primary afferent fibres are Aβ, Aδ, and C where each type varies in the degree of myelination and its overall diameter. The greater the diameter and more myelination present on the fibre will lead to a sharp feeling of pain as it generates a fast action potential. Hence, as Aδ fibres have a bigger diameter and more myelination it is the first sharp pain

As the mother of a pre-teen ballerina, I have heard my fair share of complaints about knee pain from my daughter. Until recently, I simply attributed her complaints of pain to growing pains or even muscular fatigue caused by lengthy practices in pointe shoes. That is until I heard one of my instructors mention patellofemoral pain syndrome, and the fact that it is usually young female athletes that are afflicted with the disorder. I wondered if this could be what was troubling my daughter. With that thought, my investigation into patellofemoral pain syndrome began. In an effort to shed some light on what was causing my child’s knee pain, and more importantly, in an attempt to identify effective physical therapy interventions to help relieve the knee pain she frequently complained of, I examined the etiology; pathology and physiology; signs and symptoms;

According to Hébert-Losier et al. (2009) there are no consistent evaluation purpose, test parameters, outcome measurements, normative values, or reliability and validity are currently documented for the calf-raise tests. However, the calf-raise test still commonly used on the sports & exercise medicine settings and involves concentric-eccentric actions of the plantar-flexors in unipedal stance, with the total number of calf-raises completed documented as the primary outcome measure (Hébert-Losier, Schneiders, et al., 2009).

Figure 1: a graph of the mean of righting reflex lost in control mice and the mice treated with TCPOBOP. The duration of righting reflex loss was high in pre-treated mice in comparison to control mice. the accuracy of the results is reflected in the error

This section will report on some types of orthopedic knee differentiating them according to their functions and characteristics.

Kushinin M, Klein C, Rabey J M (1999) “H reflex behaviour in Parkinson’s disease patients. Effect of stimulus duration” Parkinsonism & Related Disorders volume 6 243-246

A reflex response will happen in the spinal cord when any part of your body feels a sudden pain. Your muscles contract when motor neurones are activated. This will cause your body to move from whatever caused you the pain.

The reception of pain in the peripheral nervous system to the perception of the same in the brain, and the corresponding generation of response behaviours, is achieved through several pathways. These different nociceptive pathways kick-off in a similar manner in which a pain signal coming from the skin, for instance, travels up a sensory nerve fibre made up of axons of the spinal ganglion. The axons then enter the spinal cord, upon which they immediately divide into the upward and downward segments of the spinal cord (Purves, 2012; Hughes, 2008).