Our nervous system is a complex mechanism.interactions of neurons that send impulses to the brain, and he, in turn, controls all the organs and ensures their work. This process of interaction is possible due to the presence in man of the main inseparable acquired and innate forms of adaptation - conditioned and unconditional reactions. A reflex is a conscious response of the body to certain conditions or stimuli. Such harmonious work of nerve endings helps us to interact with the outside world. A person is born with a set of simplest skills - this is called the innate reflex. An example of this behavior is the ability of the infant to suck the mother’s breast, swallow food, blink.
Human and animal behavior
Как только живое существо появляется на свет, ему certain skills are needed that will help ensure his livelihoods. The body is actively adapting to the outside world, that is, it develops a whole complex of targeted motor skills. This is the mechanism called species behavior. Each living organism has its own set of reactions and innate reflexes, which is inherited and does not change throughout life. But the behavior itself is distinguished by the method of its implementation and use in life: congenital and acquired forms.
Unconditioned reflexes
Ученные заявляют, что врожденной формой поведения is an unconditioned reflex. An example of such manifestations has been observed since the person was born: sneezing, coughing, swallowing saliva, blinking. The transfer of such information is carried out by inheriting the parental program by the centers of reflex arcs, which are responsible for the reactions to stimuli. These centers are located in the brainstem or in the spinal cord. Unconditioned reflexes help a person to quickly and accurately respond to changes in the external environment and homeostasis. Such reactions have a clear delimitation depending on the biological needs.
- Nutritional.
- Indicative.
- Protective.
- Sexual.
Depending on the species, living beings are inherentdifferent reactions to the world around us, but all mammals, including humans, have a sucking skill. If you attach a baby or baby to the mother's nipple, a reaction will take place in the brain immediately and the feeding process begins. This is the unconditioned reflex. Examples of eating behavior are inherited from all creatures that receive nutrients from their mother's milk.
Protective reactions
Такие типы реакции на внешние раздражители are inherited and called natural instincts. Evolution has implanted in us the need to protect ourselves and take care of our security in order to survive. Therefore, we have learned to react instinctively to danger, this is an unconditioned reflex. Example: Did you notice how the head is deflected when someone raised a fist above it? When you touch a hot surface, your hand is pulled back. This behavior is also called the instinct of self-preservation: it is unlikely that a person in his right mind would try to jump from a height or eat unfamiliar berries in the forest. The brain immediately starts the process of information processing, which will make it clear whether to risk their lives. And even if it seems to you that you don’t think about it, instinct immediately works.
Попробуйте поднести палец к ладошке младенца, и he will immediately try to grab it. Such reflexes have been developed for centuries, although now the child doesn’t really need this skill. Even in primitive people, the baby clung to his mother, and so she bore him. There are also unconscious innate reactions, which are explained by the connection of several groups of neurons. For example, if you hit your knee with a hammer, it will move - an example of a two-neural reflex. In this case, two neurons come into communication and send a signal to the brain, forcing them to respond to an external stimulus.
Delayed reactions
However, not all unconditioned reflexes appear.immediately after birth. Some arise as needed. For example, a newborn baby practically does not know how to navigate in space, but after about a couple of weeks he begins to react to external stimuli - this is an unconditioned reflex. Example: the child begins to distinguish the mother's voice, loud sounds, bright colors. All these factors attract his attention - an indicative skill begins to take shape. Involuntary attention is the starting point in the formation of an assessment of stimuli: the baby begins to understand that when a mother talks to him and approaches him, most likely she will pick him up or feed him. That is, a person forms a complex form of behavior. His crying will attract attention to him, and he uses this reaction consciously.
Sexual reflex
But this reflex refers to the unconscious andunconditional, he aims to continue the race. It occurs during puberty, that is, only when the body is ready to continue the race. Scientists declare that this reflex is one of the strongest, it determines the complex behavior of a living organism, and subsequently launches the instinct to protect its offspring. In spite of the fact that all these reactions are originally peculiar to the person, they are started in a certain order.
Conditioned reflexes
In addition to the instinctive reactions that wepossess at birth, a person needs many other skills to better adapt to the world around them. Acquired behavior is formed both in animals and in people throughout life, called the phenomenon of "conditioned reflexes." Examples: at the sight of food, salivation occurs, while observing the diet, there is a feeling of hunger at a certain time of day. Such a phenomenon is formed by a temporary connection between the center of the analyzer (smell or sight) and the center of the unconditioned reflex. An external stimulus becomes a signal to a specific action. Visual images, sounds, smells are able to form resistant connections and generate new reflexes. When someone sees a lemon, salivation can begin, and with a sharp smell or contemplating an unpleasant picture, nausea can occur - these are examples of conditioned reflexes in a person. Note that these reactions can be individual for each living organism, temporary connections are formed in the cerebral cortex and send a signal when an external stimulus occurs.
Lifelong conditioned reactions canarise and also disappear. It all depends on the needs of the person. For example, in childhood a child reacts to the appearance of a bottle of milk, understanding that it is food. But when the baby grows up, this object will not form an image of food for him, he will react to the spoon and the plate.
Heredity
As we have already found out, unconditioned reflexesinherited from each species of living creatures. But the conditioned reactions affect only the complex behavior of a person, but are not transmitted to descendants. Each organism “adapts” to a particular situation and the reality surrounding it. Examples of congenital reflexes that do not disappear throughout life: food, swallowing, reaction to the taste of the product. Conditional stimuli change constantly depending on our preferences and age: in childhood, when a child sees a toy, it experiences joyful emotions, in the process of growing up, the reaction is caused, for example, by visual images of a film.
Animal reactions
In animals, as in humans, there areunconditional innate reactions, and acquired reflexes throughout life. In addition to the instinct of self-preservation and food production, living things also adapt to the environment. They develop a reaction to the nickname (pets), with repeated repetition, a reflex of attention appears.
Numerous experiments have shown that it is possibleinstill in your pet many reactions to external stimuli. For example, if at each feeding to call a dog with a bell or a certain signal, he will have a stable perception of the situation, and he will immediately react. In the process of training, a pet's encouragement for the performed team with a favorite delicacy forms a conditional reaction, walking the dog and the type of leash signals an early walk where he should defend himself - examples of reflexes in animals.
Summary
The nervous system constantly sends to our brainMany signals, they form the behavior of man and animal. Constant activity of neurons allows you to perform familiar actions and respond to external stimuli, helping to better adapt to the world around us.
