Bainbridge Reflex

The Bainbridge reflex is a physiological reflex discovered by the English physiologist Frederick Bainbridge in 1905. This reflex is one of the main reflexes that controls muscle movement and plays an important role in the regulation of posture and balance.

The Bainbridge reflex occurs when a person touches or runs a finger over their skin. This causes contraction of the muscles in the area of ​​contact, which leads to changes in body posture and balance. Reflexive muscle contraction can also help prevent falls or protect against injury from a fall.

Bainbridge's research was an important step in understanding the role of reflexes in human physiology. It helped establish that reflexes are an important mechanism for controlling our behavior and interaction with the environment. Bainbridge also developed a method that allows the study of reflexes in animals, which later led to the development of new approaches to the study of physiology.

Today, the Bainbridge reflex continues to play an important role in movement physiology research, especially in the context of studying postural control and balance in humans. It is also used in medical practice, for example in the treatment of balance or movement disorders in patients with neurological diseases.

Thus, the Bainbridge reflex is an important mechanism for regulating movements and posture in humans, which plays an important role not only in physiology, but also in everyday life. Studying this reflex will help us better understand how we interact with our environment and how we can use this information to improve health and well-being.

The Bainbridge reflex is a physiological phenomenon first described by American physiologist Frederick Albert Bainbridge in 1905. Bainbridge studied the nervous regulation of the functions of the gastrointestinal tract and described several reflexes, including the Bainbridge reflex, which received its name in honor of the author.

The essence of the Bainbrage reflex is to increase the tone of the muscles of the anterior abdominal wall in a person sitting on his back in a high chair. A systematic increase in the tone of the abdominal muscles leads to increased activity of the stomach and the appearance of a food reflex. This causes contraction of the stomach muscles for up to several minutes, even leading to vomiting. Contraction of the stomach muscles increases the production of gastric juice. Contractions of the stomach muscles will continue until the normal tone of the abdominal wall muscles is restored.

The tone of the muscles of the posterior abdominal wall increases due to the person being in a sitting position. When the posterior abdominal muscles are toned, the abdominal muscles provide support to the thoraco-abdominal septum and diaphragm, which helps maintain ventilation during breathing. When abdominal muscle tone decreases, dysfunction of diaphragmatic motility may occur, which causes vertical respiratory movement.

It is worth noting that the Bainbridge reflex occurs most often in people with constitutional ectomorphism. To study the Bainbroge reflex in a patient, it is necessary to carry out dosed massage of the anterior abdominal wall, as well as stimulation of mechanical pressure on the abdominal wall. As a result of this, positive results will appear after the test, revealing the contractile function of the stomach. And with severe regurgitation, the acidity of the gastric contents increases, manifesting itself in the form of a bright tar-like impurity. To counteract gastric contractions, proton pump inhibitors or antacids are prescribed in the absence of swallowing dysfunction.