Reflex Reactions in Dreams

[Fuzzman]

This may be a silly topic, but I just want to see what other people think about this. Yesterday in class we were talking about reflex reactions and I got to thinking about how those types of events that could cause a reflex would play out in a dream. Since a reflex is an automatic response that bypasses our brain to activate our muscles and move us away, can we have reflexes in dreams or does the brain just simulate something that seems similar? In real life say we touch something hot, before the brain can even register the pain our muscles are being moved to get our hand away and then we feel the pain after. Do you think it would happen the same way in a dream or would we have to "feel" the pain first before moving our hand? Again sorry if this is a weird question, just a random thought I had and wanted to see what you guys thought about it. I really like finding out how our brains and bodies work and I think it's cool to see how it differs between dreams and waking life.

[Tygar]

Interesting topic. Thinking back to my lucid dreams, the normal dreams (that I remember) I haven't had many reflex reactions. However, I have had events in a dream which caused a reflex reaction in real life. Example: I had a dream where a man with a hand gun shot me in the abdomen, and my physical body reacted which woke me up. I can think of several times when this has happened. I don't recall other, less severe, events which may have cause me to jerk my hand away.