How Does Age Affect Reaction Time?
Jared Choy
Mr. Dahlhausen
Period 6
17 November 2014
Does Age affect Reaction Time?
When a person sees a health care provider and the doctor hits the person’s knee with a rubber mallet, the person’s leg kicks up on its own. This happens because when the doctor hits your kneecap, the tendon under it gets stretched, which in turn will send a signal to an awaiting motor neuron so it can command the muscle to contract. Let’s take for example the reflex arc. A reflex is the involuntary movement of the body in response to a stimulus such as pain. The nerve impulses move so quickly that the person being affect doesn’t think about it, he just does it. Skin has a lot of sensory receptors, and when they are stimulated, the impulses are carried to the central nervous system. There the neuron may form a synapse with other interneuron or it may pass it on to other interneurons. What happens will depends on the particular body part stimulated and the stimulus. The interneuron then …show more content…
passes the impulse to a motor neuron, and then it goes to the muscle. Then at the same time, the interneurons may send impulses to the brain. But the action of the muscle happens before the person is aware of it happening, therefore reflexive arcs are involuntary. The part of the body that is responsible for reflex arcs are called the effector. The effector may either be glands or muscles, but it depends on the reflex arc. For example the muscles in the eyelids are effector muscles when something gets in them and sweat glands are effectors in the reflex arc when someone is in a hot room. There could be many motor neurons and sensory neurons in one reflex arc, but no matter how many neurons are involved, the central nervous system and the brain are the main components of the reflex arc. Our brain is involved by remodeling and modifying reflex actions. For example when you fall down, your reflexes will have automatically told your arms to be reach out so you can break your fall and keep from hurting yourself. Most of your muscles will contract to minimize injury. But what happens when you are holding something very valuable? Would you release the precious item to break your fall? Not necessarily as it takes somewhere between 10 to 30 milliseconds for the brain instead of the motor neurons in your spine to take control of the fall. It would weigh in the factors of breaking the item, or breaking your bones. If the item is important to you, your body will modify the reflex action and keep a tight grip on the item. But some people are also born with faster reflexes than others, but you could also speed up your reaction time through practice. For example a soccer player will have faster reflexes in their legs than average people. That is so because soccer players have to react fast with their legs, so their legs got conditioned to it. But if the soccer player would go up against a pianist in finger speed, the pianist would win. As we age the corpus callosum begins to break down.
The corpus callosum can act either as a dam or a bridge between the two hemispheres in the brain. The bridge action of the corpus callosum is most important in actions that require both hemispheres. When the motor skills of one hemisphere is needed, the corpus callosum then acts as a dam to concentrate on only one side of the brain. But as we age the dam effect begins to breakdown and two motor functions are used instead when the brain only needed one. This may not be helpful for the brain when it performs tasks that require only one part of the brain. Since the opposite side of the brain controls body movement, it may cause confusion and slower reaction time because the two hemispheres of the brain will be talking to each other at the same time. It is true though that reaction time and reflexes do slow down with age. But the effects of it varies greatly from person to person. You can slow down the effects of aging by staying physically
active. The best way to help improve reaction time and to slower the rate at which the corpus callosum breaks down is through practice. By repeating the same movements over and over you make it almost automatic. That is why when you figure out and learn how to ride a bike, you will never forget. Almost all our reflexes and reaction times can be linked to practice.
Works Cited
"A Quick Look at Reflexes." - Online Medical Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2014 Infoplease. Infoplease, n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2014.
Mr. Dahlhausen
Period 6
17 November 2014
Does Age affect Reaction Time?
When a person sees a health care provider and the doctor hits the person’s knee with a rubber mallet, the person’s leg kicks up on its own. This happens because when the doctor hits your kneecap, the tendon under it gets stretched, which in turn will send a signal to an awaiting motor neuron so it can command the muscle to contract. Let’s take for example the reflex arc. A reflex is the involuntary movement of the body in response to a stimulus such as pain. The nerve impulses move so quickly that the person being affect doesn’t think about it, he just does it. Skin has a lot of sensory receptors, and when they are stimulated, the impulses are carried to the central nervous system. There the neuron may form a synapse with other interneuron or it may pass it on to other interneurons. What happens will depends on the particular body part stimulated and the stimulus. The interneuron then …show more content…
passes the impulse to a motor neuron, and then it goes to the muscle. Then at the same time, the interneurons may send impulses to the brain. But the action of the muscle happens before the person is aware of it happening, therefore reflexive arcs are involuntary. The part of the body that is responsible for reflex arcs are called the effector. The effector may either be glands or muscles, but it depends on the reflex arc. For example the muscles in the eyelids are effector muscles when something gets in them and sweat glands are effectors in the reflex arc when someone is in a hot room. There could be many motor neurons and sensory neurons in one reflex arc, but no matter how many neurons are involved, the central nervous system and the brain are the main components of the reflex arc. Our brain is involved by remodeling and modifying reflex actions. For example when you fall down, your reflexes will have automatically told your arms to be reach out so you can break your fall and keep from hurting yourself. Most of your muscles will contract to minimize injury. But what happens when you are holding something very valuable? Would you release the precious item to break your fall? Not necessarily as it takes somewhere between 10 to 30 milliseconds for the brain instead of the motor neurons in your spine to take control of the fall. It would weigh in the factors of breaking the item, or breaking your bones. If the item is important to you, your body will modify the reflex action and keep a tight grip on the item. But some people are also born with faster reflexes than others, but you could also speed up your reaction time through practice. For example a soccer player will have faster reflexes in their legs than average people. That is so because soccer players have to react fast with their legs, so their legs got conditioned to it. But if the soccer player would go up against a pianist in finger speed, the pianist would win. As we age the corpus callosum begins to break down.
The corpus callosum can act either as a dam or a bridge between the two hemispheres in the brain. The bridge action of the corpus callosum is most important in actions that require both hemispheres. When the motor skills of one hemisphere is needed, the corpus callosum then acts as a dam to concentrate on only one side of the brain. But as we age the dam effect begins to breakdown and two motor functions are used instead when the brain only needed one. This may not be helpful for the brain when it performs tasks that require only one part of the brain. Since the opposite side of the brain controls body movement, it may cause confusion and slower reaction time because the two hemispheres of the brain will be talking to each other at the same time. It is true though that reaction time and reflexes do slow down with age. But the effects of it varies greatly from person to person. You can slow down the effects of aging by staying physically
active. The best way to help improve reaction time and to slower the rate at which the corpus callosum breaks down is through practice. By repeating the same movements over and over you make it almost automatic. That is why when you figure out and learn how to ride a bike, you will never forget. Almost all our reflexes and reaction times can be linked to practice.
Works Cited
"A Quick Look at Reflexes." - Online Medical Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2014 Infoplease. Infoplease, n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2014.