a response elicited by peripheral nerve stimulation; attributed to impulses traveling proximally from the stimulation site along motor axons, encountering a branch point, and then passing distally down the other branch to activate local arterioles (to cause vasodilation) or muscle (to cause contractions). Latency of the response decreases with more proximal stimulation; axon reflex is eliminated by axon degeneration or strong stimuli but not by proximal anesthetic blocks of the nerve.
