Knee reflex

Knee reflex: what is it and how does it work?

The knee reflex, also known as the patella reflex or quadriceps reflex, is one of the most studied reflexes in medicine. It occurs when the tendon located under the kneecap is struck and is caused by a contraction of the muscle that causes the leg to extend straight out.

How does this happen? When the tendon under the kneecap is stretched, it stimulates the receptors located in it. Information from these receptors is transmitted along nerves to the spinal cord, where the signal is processed. In response to this signal, the spinal cord sends an impulse to the muscles, which cause the quadriceps muscle to contract, causing the leg to move.

The knee reflex plays an important role in assessing the nervous system and can be used to diagnose certain diseases. For example, changes or absence of the knee jerk reflex may indicate damage to the nerves associated with that reflex, such as spinal medulla atrophy or myasthenia gravis.

In addition, the knee reflex can be used to assess the function of muscles and the nervous system as a whole. For example, in diabetic patients, who often suffer nerve and muscle damage, the knee jerk reflex can be useful in determining the extent of damage.

Despite the fact that the knee reflex is a relatively simple reflex, its study continues and some details of its operation still remain unknown. However, due to its widespread use in medicine, the knee reflex continues to be the object of attention of researchers.

Knee joint reflex

***The knee reflex*** is also called the Westphal reflex. This is the strongest and very first reflex of a newborn. It is thanks to the presence of this reflex that the child’s body reacts to any touch in the knee area. A person who has just been born, in this sense, remains the same baby as he is until he begins to take his first step. And only then the reflexes of the muscles of all parts of the body grow together.

Everyone who has ever been in a maternity hospital has this reflex, and even a person in adulthood, having been burned, will remember this feeling. The fact is that all reflexological centers are located in the cerebral cortex. These reflexes and certain areas of the cortex are connected to each other by narrow nerves called conductors.

A delay in the development of a child during the first months can lead to a disorder of this reflex, since if the child’s nervous system functions normally, then the reflex develops naturally without any treatment. But doctors still recommend that parents develop this reflex. After all, it is he who helps the newborn immediately discover his capabilities for further development. As a rule, the loss of this reflex indicates a pathology of the nervous system. Basically, this problem is caused by damage to the subtubercular lobe or hypothalamus. If this zone succumbs to some kind of viral or bacterial infection, then it can be destroyed and then the reflex does not develop. Reflexes are so important for the development of a newborn that their absence can affect the further physical development of the baby.