Infant Reflexes

Question 1

Rooting Reflex

Answer 1

OR searching reflex. stroke cheek or mouth, results in baby’s head/tongue moving toward stimulus to find food

Question 2

Suck Swallow Reflex

Answer 2

Place finger inside baby’s mouth. Response is strong, rhythmical sucking

Question 3

Traction

Answer 3

Try to pull baby up by forearms, causes head to initially lag, flexion of UE, reflexive grasp

Question 4

Moro

Answer 4

Occurs when baby is startled (test=rapidly dropping baby’s head back)
- Phase 1: arm extension and abduction
- Phase 2: arm flexion and adduction (and crying)
- protective response!

Question 5

Plantar Grasp

Answer 5

Place pressure on sole of foot, causes toes to curl into flexion

• if this does not integrate, will make it hard to walk!

Question 6

Galant

Answer 6

facilitates hip movement and ROM in prep for crawling and walking

• hold baby in prone suspension and stroke spine
• response is lateral trunk flexion on the stimulated side

Question 7

Palmar Grasp

Answer 7

Place pressure with your finger on palm of baby’s hand, initiates reflexive grasp
- important for grasping/hand manipulation skills

Question 8

ATNR

Answer 8

Turn head to one side while in supine
- extension on face side
- flexion on skull side

-precursor to hand-eye coordination
- if not integrated, many functional limitations including reading comprehension (bc hard to cross midline; eye will stop at midline), poor visual tracking/pursuit, poor handwriting (head rotation will cause arm extension), difficulty reaching/bringing items to mouth

Question 9

TLR Prone (tonic labyrinthine reflex)

Answer 9

increase in body flexor tone

• if does not integrate, makes it difficult to lift head/neck in prone

Question 10

TLR Supine (tonic labyrinthine reflex)

Answer 10

increase in body extensor tone

• if does not integrate, makes it difficult to sit up or roll over independently

Question 11

STNR (symmetric tonic neck)

Answer 11

precursor to crawling (2 tests)

• flex head in crawling position: arms flex/legs extend
• extend head in crawling position: arms extend/legs flex
• if does not integrate= difficulty sitting up from supine, poor muscle tone and posture,

Question 12

Landau

Answer 12

Hold baby in prone suspension, results in total extension of all extremities (superman pose)

Question 13

Neck Righting (neck on body)

Answer 13

place baby in supine, turn head to one side. causes entire body log rolling towards direction of head

• allows baby to roll, transition from supine to sidelying
• precursor to crawling

Question 14

Body Righting (body on body)

Answer 14

baby in supine, bend one hip/knee toward chest. results in segmental rolling to maintain body alignment

Question 15

Optical head righting

Answer 15

allows us to correct orientation of head in space

hold baby suspended vertically, slowly tilt forward/backward or side to side, baby maintains upright position of head.

• mediated by VISUAL system

Question 16

Labyrinthine head righting

Answer 16

Orients head in space

Cover eyes for testing, baby maintains upright head position while being tilted (similar to optical head righting)

• mediated by VESTIBULAR system

Question 17

Downward Parachute

Answer 17

Lower baby toward surface when suspended vertically, causes extension of lower extremities.

• protective defense against fall

Question 18

Forward Parachute

Answer 18

tip baby forward while vertically suspended, causes extension of UE to brace against fall

Question 19

Sideward parachute

Answer 19

tip baby off balance to side while in sitting position. Arm will extend and abduct toward the side to anticipate a fall

Question 20

Backward parachute

Answer 20

Quickly tip baby backward, causes backward arm extension in prep for fall backwards

Question 21

Prone tilting, supine tilting, quadruped tilting, standing tilting

Answer 21

causes spine to curve on raised side. both arms and legs will extend and abduct.

• for all testing, place baby on tilt board in the four positions
• important to maintain equilibrium without arm support and helps baby make postural adjustments

Question 22

Equilibrium Reactions

Answer 22

1st line of defense against falling
assist in maintaining balance and postural adjustment

Question 23

Protective Reactions

Answer 23

2nd line of defense against falling
assist with protective extension of arms and hands