The stapedius reflex of the middle ear muscles helps protect the inner ear from damage.

The acoustic reflex ( or stapedius reflex, attenuation reflex, or auditory reflex ) is an involuntary muscle contraction that occurs in the middle ear of mammals in response to high-intensity sound stimuli.

The stapedius reflex is also invoked when a person vocalizes.

In humans, the vocalization-induced stapedius reflex reduces sound intensities reaching the inner ear by approximately 20 decibels.

The stapedius reflex causes an acousto-mechanical increase in impedance.

The stapedius reflex that is invoked upon vocalization works in the ossicles of the middle ear, and is an active effect.

While the vocalization-induced stapedius reflex in humans results in about a 20 dB reduction in transduction to the inner ear, birds have a stronger stapedius reflex that is invoked just before the bird tweets.

Humming when you don't want to hear someone else works through the stapedius reflex.

The vocalization-induced stapedius reflex can indeed be used for hearing protection purposes.

For example, in a telephone conversation in which one's credit card number is read out in sets of four numbers at a time, if the other person starts echoing them back to you in sets of four and you begin vocalizing the next set of four numbers before the other person's stapedius reflex has subsided, it is likely that the other person will mis-hear the first one or two syllables you spoke.

Finally, the stapedius reflex is not very effective for very low frequency sounds because they are mainly transmitted by bone-conduction to the ear.

The stapedius muscle is innervated by the facial nerve, and measurement of the reflex can be used to locate the injury on the nerve.

If the injury is distal to the stapedius muscle, the reflex is still functional.

Given that sound levels at such events usually exceed recommended safe levels of exposure, this is a problem which is probably showing up variations between people, which may be genetic, or the result of stress or ill-health, or it may be caused by abnormal response in the tensor tympani and stapedius muscles which function in the normal acoustic reflex response that protects the inner ear from loud sounds.

The stapes is also stabilized by the stapedius muscle, which is innervated by the facial nerve.

There is also a small muscle ( which is also seen in geckos ) next to or upon the stapes, the stapedius, which probably functions in the same way as the mammalian stapedius muscle does, damping strong vibrations.

It also innervates the posterior belly of the digastric muscle, the stylohyoid muscle, and the stapedius muscle of the middle ear.

Significant contributions to modern stapedectomy techniques were then made by the late Dr. Antonio De La Cruz of the House Ear Institute in Los Angeles ; by the late Professor Henri André Martin of the Hôpital Edouard Herriot in Lyon, France, including calibrated platinotomy ( stapes footplate rather than whole surgery ) and trans-footplate piston surgery that also paved the way for modern stapedotomy ; and by the late Dr. Jean-René Causse of the eponymous clinic in Béziers, France, who pioneered the use of Teflon piston prostheses ( also critical progress for stapedotomy ) and, with his late son Dr. Jean-Bernard Causse, the reattachment of the stapedius muscle alongside the use of veinous grafts.

Paralysis of the stapedius, such as in injury to the facial nerve ( CN VII ) distal to the geniculate ganglion prior to its branch to stapedius muscle ( which would also cause Bell's Palsy ), allows wider oscillation of the stapes, resulting in heightened reaction of the auditory ossicles to sound vibration.

The test measures the reflexive contraction of the stapedius muscle, which is important in protecting the ear from loud noises, such as a person's own speech which may be 90 dBSPL at the eardrum.

The descending segment is the area where the branches of the chorda tympani and nerve to the stapedius branch from the facial nerve.

The stapedius muscle, the smallest skeletal muscle in the body, connects to the stapes and is controlled by the facial nerve ; the tensor tympani muscle connects to the base of the malleus and is under the control of the trigeminal nerve.

However, the extent of the movements of the ossicles is controlled ( and constricted ) by certain muscles attached to them ( the tensor tympani and the stapedius ).

He is the first who described the internal and anterior muscles of the malleus and the stapedius, and the complicated figure of the cochlea.

When presented with a high-intensity sound stimulus, the stapedius and tensor tympani muscles of the ossicles contract.

The stapedius pulls the stapes ( stirrup ) of the middle ear away from the oval window of the cochlea and the tensor tympani muscle pulls the malleus ( hammer ) away from ear drum.

Pneumonia can occur from the person ’ s inability to swallow leading to aspiration, lack of gag reflex or from feeding tube, ( aspiration pneumonia ).

There are four main groups of epileptic syndrome which can be further divided into: benign Rolandic epilepsy, frontal lobe epilepsy, infantile spasms, juvenile myoclonic epilepsy, juvenile absence epilepsy, childhood absence epilepsy ( pyknolepsy ), hot water epilepsy, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, Landau-Kleffner syndrome, Dravet syndrome, progressive myoclonus epilepsies, reflex epilepsy, Rasmussen's syndrome, temporal lobe epilepsy, limbic epilepsy, status epilepticus, abdominal epilepsy, massive bilateral myoclonus, catamenial epilepsy, Jacksonian seizure disorder, Lafora disease, photosensitive epilepsy, etc.

We can, therefore, regard ‘ suggestion ’ as the most simple form of a typical reflex in man.

She has extensive cybernetic modifications, including retractable, 4 cm double-edged blades under her fingernails which can be used like claws, an enhanced reflex system and implanted mirrored lenses covering her eyesockets, outfitted with added optical enhancements.

When receptors from one of these areas are triggered, the pain can cause a reflex to limit the mandible's movement.

It is believed that these muscles can contract to dampen the vibration of the ossicles, in order to protect the inner ear from excessively loud noise ( theory 1 ) and that they give better frequency resolution at higher frequencies by reducing the transmission of low frequencies ( theory 2 ) ( see acoustic reflex ).

As pressure on the cervix increases, the Ferguson reflex increases uterine contractions so that the second stage can go ahead.

A tailless aircraft with a straight wing can be designed to have positive longitudinal static stability if the wing has reflex camber.

If the shock current is set lower so the user can remain asleep through the shock, the response is less of a reflex response and requires conscious or subconscious participation on the part of the user, similar to the acoustic biofeedback headband.

* In the event that the bolus gets stuck or moves slower than the primary peristaltic wave ( as can happen when it is poorly lubricated ), stretch receptors in the esophageal lining are stimulated and a local reflex response causes a secondary peristaltic wave around the bolus, forcing it further down the esophagus, and these secondary waves will continue indefinitely until the bolus enters the stomach.

* Purging type bulimics self-induce vomiting ( usually by triggering the gag reflex or ingesting emetics such as syrup of ipecac ) to rapidly remove food from the body before it can be digested, or use laxatives, diuretics, or enemas.

Lomography detractors point out that twin-lens reflex cameras ( TLRs ) and folders without the distortion and light leaks can be purchased on the used market in the same price range.

The trade-off for high efficiency at reasonable cost is usually relatively low excursion capability ( i. e., inability to move " in and out " as far as many home woofers can ), as they are intended for horn or large reflex enclosures.

In fact, it has been shown that the swallowing reflex can be initiated entirely by peripheral stimulation of the internal branch of the superior laryngeal nerve.

* Somatosympathetic reflex hypothesis: all the visceral organ functions can be reflexly affected by cutaneous or muscular stimulation.

* Somatosomatic reflex hypothesis: afferent impulses from one part of the body can result in reflex activity in other parts of the body.

Equally unsupported in the literature is the notion that the prolonged activation of these reflexes will manifest into pathological state of tissues, and most relevantly, that the application of spinal manipulative therapy can alter the prolonged reflex discharge or be associated with a reversal of the pathological degeneration of the affected reflexes or tissues.

This reflex protects the body by putting it into energy saving mode to maximize the time it can stay under water.

The victim can voluntarily hold his or her breath for some time, but the breathing reflex will increase until the victim will try to breathe, even when submerged.

Increasing carbon dioxide levels lead to a stronger and stronger breathing reflex, up to the breath-hold breakpoint, at which the victim can no longer voluntarily hold his or her breath.

The gag reflex can also be used to evaluate the glossphyaryngeal nerve, but also tests the vagus nerve, as only the afferent fibres involved in the reflex are carried by the glossopharyngeal nerve.

Dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers are often used to reduce systemic vascular resistance and arterial pressure, but are not used to treat angina ( with the exception of amlodipine, nicardipine, and nifedipine, which carry an indication to treat chronic stable angina as well as vasospastic angina ) because the vasodilation and hypotension can lead to reflex tachycardia.

They have minimal vasodilatory effects compared with dihydropyridines and therefore cause less reflex tachycardia, making it appealing for treatment of angina, where tachycardia can be the most significant contributor to the heart's need for oxygen.