5 functional components of a reflex arc (ch 14)

Polysynaptic Reflex Arc

involves more than two types of neurons and more than one CNS Synapse. (Part of integrating Neuron)

Integrating Neuron

one or more regions of gray matter within the CNS acts as an integrating center. In a simple type of reflex, the integrating center is a single synapse between a sensory neuron and a motor neuron.

Sensory Receptor

1

Sensory Neuron

2

Integrating neuron

3

Motor Neuron

4

Monosynaptic Relfex Arc

A reflex pathway only having one synapse in the integrating center. (Part of integrating neuron)

Effector

5

Motor Neuron

Motor impulses triggered by the integrating center propagate out of the CNS along a motor neuron to the part of the body that will respond.

Sensory Receptor

The dendrite of a sensory neuron serves as a sensory receptor. It responds to a specific stimulus by triggering one or more impulses in the sensory neuron.

Sensory Neuron

The impulses propagate from the sensory receptor along the sensory neuron to the axon terminals in the gray matter of the spinal cord or brain stem.

Effector

The part of the body that responds to the motor impulse, such as a muscle or gland, is the effector. If the effector is skeletal muscle, the reflex Is a somatic reflex. If the effector is smooth muscle, cardiac muscle, or a gland, the reflex is an autonomic reflex.