Editing Instinct (section)

==Reflexes==
{{main|Reflex}}
[[File:Living_gecko_hunting_the_pointer_of_a_mouse.webm|250px|thumb|right|A [[gecko]] hunts the pointer of a mouse, confused with [[predation|prey]].]]

Examples of behaviours that do not require thought include many reflexes. The stimulus in a reflex may not require brain activity but instead may travel to the spinal cord as a message that is then transmitted back through the body, tracing a path called the [[reflex arc]]. Reflexes are similar to [[fixed action pattern]]s in that most reflexes meet the criteria of a fixed action pattern.  However, a fixed action pattern can be processed in the brain as well; a male [[stickleback]]'s instinctive aggression towards anything red during his mating season is such an example.  Examples of instinctive behaviours in humans include many of the [[primitive reflexes]], such as rooting and suckling, behaviours which are present in [[mammal]]s. In rats, it has been observed that innate responses are related to specific chemicals, and these chemicals are detected by two organs located in the nose: the vomeronasal organ (VNO) and the main olfactory epithelium (MOE).<ref name="Sokolowski & Corbin 2012">{{cite journal |doi=10.3389/fnmol.2012.00055 |pmid=22557946 |pmc=3337482 |title=Wired for behaviors: From development to function of innate limbic system circuitry |journal=Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience |volume=5 |pages=55 |year=2012 |last1=Sokolowski |first1=Katie |last2=Corbin |first2=Joshua G. |doi-access=free }}</ref>