We explain what voluntary and involuntary movements are, the characteristics of each one and various examples.
What are voluntary and involuntary movements?
The human body, like that of other living beings equipped with a nervous system, is capable of different forms of movement, such as voluntary movements and involuntary movements or reflexes. As its name itself indicates, the former depend on our will and are subject to our control, while the latter are external to our will and occur on their own.
Since they depend on the nervous system, these movements are also known as nervous acts, and each depends on a different organ in the body: In volunteers, the brain is mainly involved, while involuntary ones are carried out by the spinal cord that is, they occur without brain involvement.
Both types of movements are essential for the survival and adaptation of the organism. However, each one responds to different stimuli and specific conditions.
Voluntary movements are those that allow living beings to make decisions, carry out specific actions and plan, that is, actively ensure their well-being. While reflexes respond to a much more primitive and primary level of self-preservation, that is, they embody the tendency of the body itself to protect itself.
We can characterize each type of movement separately:
voluntary movements. As we said, they are those in which consciousness intervenes, so that we can decide whether or not to do them, in what way and until when. In general, they have a specific purpose and are learned, that is, their realization depends on practice, and we cannot do them while unconscious or asleep. These movements occur according to the following scheme:
- Our senses capture a stimulus from the environment and the nervous system transmits the information to the brain.
- The information is processed and a response is prepared in the frontal lobe of the brain.
- The response is transmitted through the nervous system to the spinal cord, and from there to the muscles necessary to perform the movement.
involuntary movements. They are those in which consciousness does not intervene, but rather occur “automatically”, which is why they are also called reflex movements. Many, for this reason, occur in individuals who are asleep or in a coma. They are usually quick, involuntary, and generally depend on the intensity of the stimulus that causes them.
However, many of them can be tamed or controlled to some degree. Carrying out this movement involves the following stages:
- An external stimulus is produced, which is captured by the senses and transmitted by the nervous system.
- The stimulus information reaches the spinal cord and triggers an automatic response, which bypasses the brain.
- The response is immediately taken to the muscles that will execute it by the nervous system.
See also: Muscular system
Examples of voluntary movements
It is not difficult to find examples of voluntary movements. Anything that we do with an express purpose and through learned patterns is useful, such as:
- Dance
- Comb your hair
- shave your beard
- play soccer
- Lift weights
- Screw a screw or drive a nail
- Talk
- Eat
- Write
- Pour yourself a glass of water
- sweep a room
- Make love
- drive a car
- Play a musical instrument
Examples of involuntary movements
Perhaps many of them go unnoticed by us every day, due to how automatic they are, but it should not be difficult to recognize involuntary movements such as:
- Salivate
- Accelerate heartbeat
- Withdraw your hand when faced with a painful stimulus (a puncture, a burn)
- The sucking movement of infants
- The knee reflex that doctors verify for us
- Protect your head from a blow with your hands
- The gag reflex when there is something blocking the throat
Continue with: Systems of the human body
References
- “The movements” at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
- “Nervous acts” at the Ramón Pignatelli Secondary Education Institute (Spain)
- “Neural control of movement” in Neurosciences, Education and Human Development.
- “Involuntary or uncontrollable movements” in AARP.
- “Voluntary movement” at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
