Reflex information

A reflex is an immediate involuntary response evoked by a given stimulus. All reflex responses are involuntary and are not cognitive or actively set off. A stimulus which triggers a reflex always results in the same response.

The reflexes discussed here are motor/movement reflexes and such reflexes, when stimulated, result in the same movement pattern. The most famous reflex of movement is the knee-jerk reflex which is demonstrated when the doctor taps your bent knee below your knee cap and this causes your leg to straighten. This is a tendon stretch reflex.

Here, we are interested in the early primitive reflexes and the postural reflexes. All but one of these reflexes are mediated/arise from the brainstem – an area between the cerebral hemispheres and the spinal cord. These reflexes are stimulated generally by head position, touch or posture. Their presence is a normal and important part of physical development in an infant and postural control in a child and adult.

Occasionally, for some as yet unknown reason, the full sequence of primitive and postural reflex development is delayed or incomplete. This results in a child (or adult) having an immature reflex profile and they may be described as having neuro-developmental delay (NDD) or neuro-motor immaturity (NMI).

Immature reflexes may interfere with learning to read and write; they may influence balance and coordination; they have been found in children with Specific Learning Difficulties and they have been implicated in some behavioural problems.

In this part of the website, each primitive and postural reflex is described in detail together with the reported effects seen when the development of the reflex is delayed, diminished or absent.