Re: Where does the cough reflex stop and the sneeze reflex begin?

     Good question.  To answer this fully we need to define a reflex.  
Stedman's Medical Dictionary defines it as: 1. An involuntary reaction in 
response to a stimulus applied to the periphery and transmitted to the 
nervous centers in the brain or spinal cord. Most of the deep reflexes 
listed as subentries are stretch or myotatic reflexes, elicited by 
striking a tendon or bone, causing stretching, even slight, of the muscle, 
which then contracts as a result of the stimulus applied to its 
proprioceptors. 
     That's quite a bit of jargon.  So in a nutshell, a reflex is a 
automatic response to something that bothers you(a stimulus).  For 
example, when a doctor hits you below the knee with the little hammer, 
your leg gently kicks out.  Even though you feel the hammer strike, your 
don't need to think about moving your leg.  That is because a reflex 
bipasses the thinking portion of our brain. It is a rapid way for our 
bodies to perform some action in response to almost any stimuli.  
     So a cough is a reflex as well.  Something irritates your throat or 
lungs, you cough without thinking about it.  The sneeze reflex works the 
same way, something irritates your nose or even eyes and you sneeze.  
Basically these reflex pathways occur in much the same way, with most 
likely some cross-talk between them.  As for a level at which a cough 
occurs vs a sneeze, it should be approximately the throat, but this is not 
clearly defined.  As for why sometimes you cough after sneezing, I don't 
think there is a good answer for that one.  The sneeze reflex does 
stimulate some of the same muscle groups to expel air from the lungs just 
like a cough, it just comes out at a much faster rate.  I cannot verify 
this, but I found one website claiming a laboratory-tested sneeze at 103 
mph, and a cough between 60 and 70 mph.  I myself sneeze a lot, but from a 
photic sneeze reflex, which is sneezing from bright light.  Kind of weird, 
but since you were sharing your sneeze/cough problems I thought I would 
too.  But, just so you know, there is nothing abnormal about your 
problem.  Just remember not to sneeze or cough on anyone else, mainly 
because it's gross.  I found one website picture that had some technical 
explanation of the cough reflex.  Not terribly helpful, but at least it is 
something.  
 http://www.umass
med.edu/pulmonary/irwin/anatomy.htm