Final answer:
You can withdraw your hand from hot water before feeling pain because of reflex pathways in your spinal cord that enable rapid responses, bypassing the need for brain processing. The correct option is C) Reflex pathways in your spinal cord allow for quick responses.
Step-by-step explanation:
You are able to pull your hand quickly away from hot water before pain is felt because C) Reflex pathways in your spinal cord allow for quick responses. This sort of reaction is known as a reflex arc, which is a neural pathway that controls an action reflex.
In this case, high temperatures are detected by thermoreceptors and nociceptors in the skin, which then activate sensory neurons. These neurons send a signal to the spinal cord, which processes the information and immediately issues a motor response without involving the brain, causing an automatic withdrawal of the hand to prevent injury.
Upon encountering a painful stimulus like excessive heat, the nociceptors in the skin are activated and send a signal through afferent pathways to the spinal cord.
From there, the spinal cord sends an efferent signal back to the muscles, prompting them to contract and move the hand away from the source of pain. This process is much quicker than the time it would take for the signal to be sent to the brain and a conscious decision to be made, allowing for a near-instantaneous response to potential harm.
The correct option is C) Reflex pathways in your spinal cord allow for quick responses.