Reflex Lab

Reflexes are actions performed as a response to a stimulus without conscious thought. In the Reflex Lab, we tested our partners different reflexes as such-- the photopupillary reflex, the knee jerk reflex, the blink reflex, the plantar reflex, and the reflex relating to our response time. When we stimulate something that incites our neurons to survival instinct, our sensory neuron activates the spinal record to respond accordingly.

• Angela, Haley, and I first tested our photopupillary reflexes. Haley covered her right eye for two minutes and quickly removed her hand at our count. Angela shined a flashlight at her right eye, and I recorded the video of the transformation of the pupil of her right eye. The pupil of her right eye constricted, or grew smaller, which was a fascinating process to watch. I knew that the photopupillary reflex is triggered when exposed to an increase in  sunlight, causing the pupil to contract. But to actually view the transformation of the pupil live was amazing, fascinating. 
• After testing the photopupillary reflex, we moved on to test the knee jerk reflex. Once again, Haley was our subject in experimenting reflexes. I recorded Angela hitting Haley's knee with a reflex hammer. It took Angela a couple of times for the leg to immediately kick out. What caused Haley's leg to immediately kick out was the knee jerk reflex. Angela's tap to Haley's knee caused the thigh muscle to stretch. Information was sent to the spinal cord and then the information was sent back out to the muscle, causing the knee to jerk. The second part of testing the photopupillary reflex was to test the reflex after the subject had done 30 air squats. Haley reacted quicker to the reflex hammer hitting her knee, proving that exercise increases the knee jerk reflex.
• Moving onto testing the next reflex, the three of us tested the blink reflex. I recorded Angela throwing a cotton ball at Haley, who was holding plastic wrap to protect herself. Although Haley was partly protecting herself with the plastic wrap, her blink reflex, an involuntary blinking of the eyelids caused by stimulation of the cornea, was still triggered when a cotton ball was thrown to her. I believe that the blink reflex is just a reflex we have evolved from the beginning of humankind in order to protect us from imminent dangers, such as spitting poison. Such dangers are not as prevalent in our lives, but the blink reflex is still useful for us in protecting us from... cotton balls.
•  After the learning the "hazards" of cotton balls, we moved on to test our plantar reflexes. Haley took off her shoes and socks for us to test the plantar reflex. I recorded the video, but the experimenter this time was actually our teacher Mr. Orre. He demonstrated to us how the toes will flex due to the plantar reflex as he slid the pen up along Haley's foot. This reflex became important in the medical field, as doctors can diagnose nerve damage in adults and Babinski's sign in newborns.
• The last test the three of us performed was designed to measure our response time to something we see. The experimenter would hold a yard stick and drop the stick in the next five seconds unannounced. The subject would have to grab the yardstick after the experimenter dropped the yard stick. The reaction time of the subject would be measured by how many centimeters or inches was in the lapse time between the drop time and grab time. Then, the centimeters or inches was translated into seconds, which represents the subject's average reaction time. The process of us responding to something we process requires visual information to our brains. Then a motor command would be sent to our brains to our muscles of our arms, helping us to catch the ruler. Later, we tested our response time while being distracted by texting. Our results are posted below.

Texting tended to slow down our response time significantly, since we were distracted by texting (or at least attempting) on our cell phones. Angela and I, for example, were slowed down when texting as shown by the table below, though I had a significantly worse reaction than Angela had. 

Name	Avg. Reaction Time (s)	Avg. Reaction Time While Texting (s)
Kelly H	0.176	0.28
Angela L	0.15	0.19

Angela and I were slightly better than the average female reaction. I, however, was slightly worse than the average for the female reaction while texting. We both were below 0.18 seconds as the average reaction time, and Angela scored 0.15 seconds from the average reaction time while texting, which was almost half the time of the average female reaction while texting. Based on my average reaction time while texting, I should definitely not text while driving!

My Brain Map

An interactive infographic by Open Colleges

Cerebral Cortex

1. The frontal lobes are humans' central command center. They control humans' personality and where problem solving, memory, language, impulse control, and judgement occur.

2. There have been studies that show that the intelligence level depends on how selective you are when remembering information. This is called selective attention, which makes our working memory capacity to be greater as it allows us to prioritize important information.

3. The frontal lobe is the last part of the brain to develop. To prevent the brain from deteriorating, we can do exercises to prevent the front lobe from deteriorating.

4. The neocortex governs our senses, spatial awareness, and motor skills. This part of the brain is more receptive to environmental enrichment than other parts; therefore, too many tasks for the brain will be too challenging for the brain.

5. The role of the pre frontal cortex is to organize our thoughts and actions to match cohesively with internal goals. The pre frontal cortex has a huge part in controlling our personality, including how we behave in social situations.

6. The pre frontal cortex helps us keep our goals of each task in mind while multitasking.

7. The Broca's area is associated with speech and language development. There have been studies that suggest tongue twisters may improve the functioning of the Broca's area.

8. The somatosensory cortex is responsible for thinking the following: “Is it hot in here or is it just me?”

9. The visual cortex helps to differentiate colors and distinguish complexities.

10. The dpital lobe is the brain's visual processing center. There are different regions in the occipital lobe that have different functions, such as sensing motion and differentiating colors. If one of your lobes become damaged, it might result in partial blindness, total blindness, difficulty of differentiating colors and even hallucinations.   

11. If my temporal lobes were damaged, I might forget where I parked my car to get to class or where the bus stop is.

12. The“fast brain” refers to the eye fields. The eye fields control eye movements and help the brain register information very quickly. 

Neuron
13. Exercise and a healthy diet provide many benefits for our brain to function. Other studies have shown that socializing is also another factor in healthy brain function.

14. The dendrites' lifespan is influenced by your experience which is laid by your input activity. Using the multi-sensory or multi-modal learning, which help us engage in storing data about a particular activity, affects the lifespan of the dendrites.

15. Studies show that using the "big picture" will help us full understand a subject, and then break the subject into its relevant parts. Using mnemonic devices also help us remember personal, humorous, spatial, or relatable information about a topic in order to recall the information at a later date.

16. Glutamate plays a key role in learning new information and storing long term memory. It is also essential for studying our brain, making the glutamate have more benefits than other neurotransmitters.

Limbic System
17. The corpus callosum is where we get our oral language skills and the ability to comprehend how language is structured.

18. A study showed that children who practiced music for two and a half hours per week showed increase in 25% of their corpus collosum, indicating that the two hemispheres of the brain were communicating more effectively due to the musical practice.

19. The thalamus is important because it is responsible for motor control, sensory information, and states of consciousness. It also relays information from the senses and sends the information to the cortex; it also processes information too.

Relate and Review
After watching the tutorial, I learned that the corpus collosum is in charge of our oral language skills and ability to comprehend the structure of languages. In order to improve upon these skills, I can always start to play an instrument, such as the piano or violin, in order to increase the functionality of my corpus collosum. Other structures of the brain I learned were the frontal lobes, the thalamus, the occipital lobe, and the visual cortex. The frontal lobes govern our central command system, controlling our personality and problem solving skills. The thalamus relays information from the senses and sends information to the cortex, making the this structure an invaluable part of the brain. The occipital lobe is the brain's visual center that is designed to sense motion and differentiate colors. The visual cortex also helps to differentiate colors.