The knee jerk reflex is part of this system. Let's say you're standing, and start to lean back too much. Leaning back stretches your quadriceps and triggers the reflex.

For starters, the knee gets top billing in the reflex test for one simple reason: it’s easy to access. You’re sitting on the table in that backless gown, fighting humiliation and cold.

How Reflexes Work. A reflex is an automatic physical reaction to stimuli, such as a noise, physical sensation, taste, sight, or smell. The most familiar reflex is straightening your knee when a ...

There are lots of things kids don’t like about doctor’s visits, with shots, blood tests and throat swabs topping the list. But one thing they love is having their knee reflexes checked. A ...

How did the bodies of animals, including ours, become such fine-tuned movement machines? How vertebrates coordinate the ...

The left-knee reflex was absent, and both ankle reflexes were depressed. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate was 31 mm per hour, the cerebrospinal-fluid protein was 87 mg per 100 ml, ...

When I see a patient in clinic, I frequently tap my reflex hammer just below their knees to assess their patellar reflexes. Automatically, and without conscious awareness, their tendon contracts and ...