reflex response
Involuntary bodily reaction
A reflex response is an automatic, involuntary reaction to a stimulus, occurring without conscious thought.
The term appears most often in medical and psychological contexts, where it describes actions like the knee-jerk reflex or pulling a hand away from a hot surface.
More broadly, reflex response characterizes any habitual or instinctive reaction: His reflex response to criticism was to become defensive.
The phrase is somewhat redundant, since reflexes are by definition responses.
Frighten suddenly
- flinchInvoluntary retreat from threat
- twitchInvoluntary muscular jerk
- jerkAbrupt pulling motion
- blinkRapid lid movement
gasp · recoil · spasm · jolt · snap · wince · fright · shock
Not under conscious control
- knee-jerkInstinctive and unconsidered
- conditionedTaught automatic responses
- unconsciousNot awake or aware
- reactiveTending to respond
unthinking · mechanical · habitual · instinctual · hardwired · preprogrammed · robotic · autonomic
Nerve signal crossing point
- neuronImpulse-conducting cell
- spinal cordBrain's extension through vertebrae
- afferentConveying toward central point
- efferentConveying outward from center
sensory · motor · brainstem · neural · pathway · arc · stimulus · receptor
Protective or easily threatened
- guardingActively protecting something
- shieldingProtecting from harm
- fight-or-flightAcute threat reaction
- survivalRemaining alive against odds
self-preservation · aversion · avoidance · withdrawal · evasive · swallowing · rooting · sucking
startle
Frighten suddenly
blink · gasp · recoil · spasm · jolt · snap · wince · fright · shock · alarm
involuntary
Not under conscious control
- knee-jerkInstinctive and unconsidered
- conditionedTaught automatic responses
- unconsciousNot awake or aware
reactive · unthinking · mechanical · habitual · instinctual · hardwired · preprogrammed · robotic · autonomic · innate
synapse
Nerve signal crossing point
- neuronImpulse-conducting cell
- spinal cordBrain's extension through vertebrae
- afferentConveying toward central point
efferent · sensory · motor · brainstem · neural · pathway · arc · stimulus · receptor · axon
defensive
Protective or easily threatened
- guardingActively protecting something
- shieldingProtecting from harm
- fight-or-flightAcute threat reaction
survival · self-preservation · aversion · avoidance · withdrawal · evasive · swallowing · rooting · sucking
- reflexesreflexes, quick reflexes, knee jerk, knee-jerk, spinal reflexes
- electrical injurieselectric shock, electrocution, lightning strike, electrical burn, entry wound
- gaitgait, walking, stride, step, cadence
- vital signspulse, heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, vital signs
reflex, response, reflect, reflection, reflective, reflector, reflexive, reflexively, respond