Abstract
Background
There have been very few studies concerning the Babkin reflex—opening of the mouth
and flexion of the arms in response to stimulation of the palms. We attempted to clarify
the clinical significance and neural mechanism of the reflex through systematic review.
Methods
Searches were conducted on Medline, Embase, and Google Scholar from their inception
through August 2012.
Results
In normal term infants, the Babkin reflex can be elicited from the time of birth,
becomes increasingly suppressed with age, and disappears in the great majority by
the end of the fifth month of age. A marked response in the fourth or fifth month
of age and persistence of the reflex beyond the fifth month of age are generally regarded
as abnormal. On the other hand, because there are some normal infants showing no response
during the neonatal period or early infancy, the absence of the response during these
periods is not necessarily an abnormal finding.
Conclusions
Infants with these abnormal findings should be carefully observed for the appearance
of neurological abnormalities including cerebral palsy and mental retardation. It
is most likely that the Babkin reflex is mediated by the reticular formation of the
brainstem, which receives inputs from the nonprimary motor cortices. On the basis
of the hand–mouth reflex, more adaptive movement develops as control of the nonprimary
motor cortices over the reflex mechanism in the reticular formation increases. Soon
it evolves into the voluntary eye-hand-mouth coordination necessary for food intake
as the control of the prefrontal cortex over the nonprimary motor cortices becomes
predominant.
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
April 9,
2013
Received:
December 19,
2012
Identification
Copyright
© 2013 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
