an action or movement that is made automatically without thinking as a reaction to a stimulus

2. “An action that is performed without
conscious
thought
as a response
to
a stimuli”

3. INTRODUCTION

4. DEPENDING UPON INBORN
OR ACQUIRED
• Unconditioned/ inborn
reflex
• Conditioned /Acquired
reflex
CLASSIFICATION OF REFLEXES
DEPENDING UPON
SITUATION OF THE
CENTER
• Cerebellar reflex
• Cortical reflex
• Midbrain reflex
• Bulbar/ Medullary
Reflex
• Spinal Reflex

5. CLASSIFICATION OF REFLEXES
Depending upon the
purposes
Protective or
flexor
reflexes
Antigravity or
extensor
reflexes

6. Depending upon clinical basis
1. Superficial reflex
• Mucous
membrane
• Cutaneous
reflex
2. Deep reflex 3. Visceral reflex
4. Pathological reflex

7. • Helps the pediatrician to
identify whether the child
is developing normally or
not.
• Tells about what
abnormalities the child
may be having if all
reflexes are not proper
SIGNIFICANCE OF REFLEXES

8. • Knowledge of development of motor skills –
helps to identify whether development is
going on at a proper rate or not.

9. GENERAL BODY
REFLEXES OF BABY
MORO REFLEX
/ STARTLE
REFLEX
PALMAR/GRAS
P REFLEX
WALKING /
STEPPING
REFLEX
LIMB
PLACEMENT
REFLEX
LIMB
PLACEMENT
REFLEX
ASYMMETRIC
TONIC NECK
REFLEX
BABINSKI’S
REFLEX
BABKIN REFLEX
PARACHUTE
REFLEX
LANDAU
REFLEX

10. GENERAL BODY
REFLEXES OF BABY
WITHDRAWAL
REFLEX
TRUNK
INCURVATION
TENDON
REFLEX
BABINSKI’S
REFLEX
PARACHUTE
REFLEX
PLANTER
GRASP REFLEX

11. FACIAL REFLEX
NASAL
REFLEX
BLINK
REFLEX
DOLL’S EYE
REFLEX
AUDITORY
ORIENTING
REFLEX

12. ORAL REFLEXES
ROOTING
REFLEX
SUCKING
REFLEX
GAG
REFLEX
SWALLOWING
REFLEX
CRY
REFLEX

13. GENERAL BODY REFLEXS
MORO REFLEX / STARTLE REFLEX
• Begins at 28 weeks of gestation
• Initiated by any sudden movement of the neck
• Elicited by – pulling the baby halfway to sitting
position from supine and suddenly let the head fall
back

14. It Consist of rapid abduction and
extension of arms with the opening
of hands, tensing of the back
muscles, flexion of the legs and
crying Within moments, the arms

15. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE
• Its nature gives an indication of muscle tone
• Failure of the arms to move freely or the hands to
open fully indicates hypotonia.
• It fades rapidly and is not normally elicited after 6
months of age.

16. PALMAR/GRASP REFLEX
• Begin at 32 weeks of gestation.
• Most effective way– slide the stimulating
object, such as a finger or pencil, across the
palm from the lateral border
• Disappears at 3-4 months

17. Light touch of the palm
produces reflex flexion of
the finger. Replaced by
voluntary grasp at 45
months

18. Clinical significance
• Exceptionally strong grasp reflex– spastic
form of cerebral palsy and kernicterus.
• May be asymmetrical in hemiplegic and in
case of cerebral damage.
• Persistence beyond 3 to 4 months indicate
spastic form of palsy.

19. PLANTER / GRASP REFLEX
• Placing object or finger beneath the toes
causes curling of toes around the object
• Present at 32 weeks of gestation
• Disappears at 9 to 12 months

20. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE
• This reflex referred to as the “readiness
tester”
• Integrates at the same time that independent
gait first becomes possible

21. WALKING / STEPPING
REFLEX
• When sole of foot is
pressed against the
couch, baby tries to
walk
• Legs prance up and
down as if baby is
walking or dancing.

22. • Present at birth.
• Disappearing at 2 to
four months
• With daily practice of
reflex, infant may
walk alone at 10
months.

23. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE
• Premature infants will tend to walk in a toe-
heel fashion while more mature infants will
walk in a heel-toe patterns

24. LIMB PLACEMENT REFLEX
• When the front of the leg
below the knee or the arm
below the elbow is brought
into contact with the edge
of a table, child lift the limbs
over the edge
• Present at birth, fades away
rapidly in early months of
life.

25. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE
• Reflex is readily demonstrable in the
newborn and persistent failure to elicit it
at this stage, is thought to indicate
neurological abnormality.

26. WITHDRAWAL REFLEX
• This is the reflex that allows the baby to “hold hands
until it disappears at about 6 months. Withdrawal
reflex: A pin prick to the sole of baby's foot will
result in knee and foot flexion.
• Present at birth, persists throughout life.

27. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE
• Absence of this is seen in neurologically
impaired infants.

28. ASYMMETRIC TONIC NECK
REFLEX
• Asymmetric tonic neck reflex, or
ATNR, is one of the primitive
reflexes that babies experience as
part of brain development. ...
ATNR presents as consistent, one-
sided movements of the body that
go together with proper hand-eye
harmonization. The reflex
happens when a newborn turns
their head but you may not notice
them.

29. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE
• The reflex fades rapidly and is not normally
seen after 6 months of age.
• Persistence is the most frequently observed
abnormality of the infantile reflexes in infant
with neurological lesions.
• Greatly disrupts development.

30. SYMMETRIC TONIC NECK
REFLEX
• When your baby's head moves forward (their
chin toward their chest), their legs straighten
and their arms bend.

31. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE
• Not normally easily seen at elicited in normal
infants.
• May be seen in an exaggerated form in many
children with cerebral palsy

32. BABINSKI’S REFLEX
• Babinski reflex is one of the normal reflexes in
infants.
• Reflexes are responses that occur when the body
receives a certain stimulus.

33. The Babinski reflex occurs after the sole of the foot has been firmly stroked.
The big toe then moves upward or toward the top surface of the foot. The other
toes fan out.

34. BABKIN REFLEX
• Deep pressure applied
simultaneously to the palm of both
hands while the infant is in supine
position.
• Stimulus is followed by flexion or
forward bowing of the head, opening
of the mouth and closing of the eyes.
• Fades rapidly and normally cannot be
elicited after 4 months of age.
A neonatal reflex in which infants open their
mouths and twist their heads in response to
pressure on their palms.

35. Clinical significance
• Reflex can be demonstrated in the newborn,
thus showing a hand-mouth neurological link,
even at that early stage

36. PARACHUTE REFLEX
• Reflex appears at about 6-9 months and persists
thereafter.
• Elicited by holding the child in ventral suspension
and suddenly lowering him in the couch
• Arms extended as a defensive reaction.

37. Clinical significance
• Absent or abnormal in children with cerebral
palsy.
• Would be asymmetrical in spastic hemiplegic.

38. LANDAU REFLEX
• Seen in horizontal suspension with the head, legs
and spine extended.
• If the head is flexed, hip knees and elbows also flex.
• Appears at approximately 3 months, disappears at
12-24 months.

39. Clinical significance
• Absence of reflex occurs in hypotonia,
hypertonia or mental abnormality.

40. TRUNK INCURVATION REFLEX
• Stroking one side of spinal column while baby is on
his abdomen causes crawling motion with legs, lifting
head from surface
• Present in utero, seen at approximately 3rd or 4th day
• Persist for 2-3 months.

41. GALLANT’S REFLEX
• Firm sharp stimulation along side of the spine with
the fingernails or a pin produces contraction of the
underlying muscles and curving of the back.
• Response is easily seen when the infants is held
upright and the trunk movement is unrestricted.
• Best seen in the neonatal period and thereafter
gradually fades.

42. TENDON REFLEX
• Simple monosynaptic reflexes, which are elicited by a
sudden stretch of a muscle tendon.
• Occurs when the tendon is tapped.
• Present throughout the life.

43. Clinical significance
• Useful diagnostically for
 Detection of upper motor neuron lesions
(exaggerated response)
 Myopathic conditions (depressed or absent
response)
 Localization of the segmental lesions of the cord.

44. TONIC LABYRINTHINE REFLEX
• With this reflex, tilting the
head back while lying on the
back causes the back to stiffen
and even arch backwards, the
legs to straighten, stiffen, and
push together, the toes to
point, the arms to bend at the
elbows and wrists, and the
hands to become fisted or the
fingers to curl.

45. FACIAL REFLEX

47. 1