Voluntary actions

Involuntary/Reflex actions

1.

The actions are under the will or conscious of the individual.

1.

Actions occur without consulting the will.

2.

They may or may not involve information from receptors or sense organs.

2.

Involuntary actions always occur in response to stimuli picked up by receptors.

3.

Impulses originate in the brain.

3.

Impulses originate in the region of receptors.

4.

Every voluntary action occurs under conscious directions from brain.

4.

Brain is seldom consulted consciously though an involuntary action always involves spinal cord or brain for transfer of information from afferent neurons to efferent neurons.

5.

The actions employ voluntary muscles.

5.

The actions employ involuntary muscles but occasionally voluntary muscles also get involved.

6.

Voluntary actions do not occur in the form of an arc. Mainly three parts are involved— brain (CNS), efferent neuron and effector organ.

6.

They occur in the form of a reflex arc. A reflex arc consists of five parts—receptors, afferent neuron, interneuron in CNS, efferent neuron and effector organ.