COLLEGE OF HEALTH SCIENCES
NURSING PROGRAM
MCN
Written Activity: Newborn Neurological Reflexes
Instruction: Make a FLOW CHART of Fetal Circulation. Total points: 35
REFLEXES STIMULI
Blink Reflex It may be elicited by shining a
strong light such as a flashlight
into an eye. A sudden movement
toward the eye sometimes can
elicit the blink reflex, but this is
not as reliable.
Rooting Reflex If a newborn’s cheek is brushed
or stroked near the corner of the
mouth, the infant will turn its head
in that direction.
Sucking Reflex When a newborn’s lips are
touched, the baby makes a
sucking motion. In addition,
rooting helps the baby get ready
to suck. When the roof of the
baby's mouth is touched, the baby
will start to suck.
Swallowing Reflex The swallow is initiated when
food, liquid, or saliva reaches the
newborn’s throat.
Extrusion Reflex This reflex occurs when the
newborn’s tongue is touched or
depressed in any way by a solid
and semisolid object, like a
spoon.
RESPONSE
A blink reflex in a newborn serves
the same purpose as it does in an
adult—to protect the eye from any
object coming near it by rapid
eyelid closure.
This reflex serves to help a
newborn find food; when a mother
holds the child and allows her
breast to brush the newborn’s
cheek, the reflex causes the baby
to turn toward the breast. The
reflex disappears at about the
sixth week of life, not
coincidentally at the same time a
newborn’s eyes focus steadily so
a food source can be seen.
This reflex helps a newborn find
food. The sucking reflex begins to
diminish at about 6 months of
age. It disappears immediately if it
is never stimulated such as in a
newborn with a
tracheoesophageal fistula who
cannot take in oral fluids. It can
be maintained in such an infant
by offering the child a nonnutritive
sucking object such as a pacifier.
Food that reaches the posterior
portion of the tongue is
automatically swallowed.
This reflex helps protect babies
from choking or aspirating food
and other foreign objects and
helps them to latch onto a nipple.
You can see this reflex in action
when their tongue is touched or
depressed in any way by a solid
and semisolid object, like a
spoon. In response, a baby’s
tongue will thrust out of their
mouth to prevent anything but a
nipple from a breast or bottle from
coming through.
Tonic Neck Reflex When the arm and leg on the side
toward which the head is turned
extend, and the opposite arm and
leg contract (Fig. 18.7). This
posture is most evident in the
arms but should not be totally
absent in the legs. If you turn a
newborn’s head to the opposite
side, he or she may change the
extension and contraction of legs
and arms accordingly. It is also
called a “boxer” or “fencing
reflex.” Unlike other reflexes, the
purpose or function of this reflex
is not known. The reflex typically
disappears between the second
and third months of life.
Palmar Grasp Newborns grasp an object placed
in their palm by quickly closing
their fingers on it
Plantar Grasp When an object touches the sole
of a newborn’s foot at the base of
the toes, the toes grasp in the
same manner as the fingers. This
reflex disappears at about 8 to 9
months of age in preparation for
walking
Moro Reflex It can be elicited with a loud noise
or by jarring the bassinet. The
most accurate method of eliciting
the reflex is to hold a newborn in
a supine position and then allow
the head to drop backward about
1 in.
Babinski Reflex When the sole of a newborn’s foot
is stroked in an inverted “J” curve
from the heel upward, a newborn
fans the toes (positive Babinski
sign)
The tonic neck reflex is often
called the fencing reflex. When
your baby is lying down and their
head is turned to the right or left,
the corresponding arm extends
while the other arm bends next to
their head. This makes them look
like they’re about to start fencing.
Mature newborns grasp so
strongly they can be raised from a
supine position and suspended
momentarily from an examiner’s
fingers. This reflex disappears at
about 6 weeks to 3 months of
age; after it fades, a baby begins
to grasp meaningfully
The response of the reflex
consists of flexion and adduction
of all the toes.Determination of
whether the response of the
hands and feet is a true reflex or
a voluntary grasping movement
can be difficult in older infants.
In response to this sudden
backward head movement, the
newborn first extends arms and
legs, then swings the arms into an
embrace position and pulls up the
legs against the abdomen The
reflex simulates the action of
someone trying to ward off an
attacker and then covering up to
protect the body. It is strong for
the first 8 weeks of life and then
fades by the end of the fourth or
fifth month.
The big toe then moves upward
or toward the top surface of the
foot.The reflex remains positive
(toes fan) until at least 3 months
of age, when it is supplanted by
the downturning response.
Landau Reflex When a newborn is supported in
a prone position by a hand, the
newborn should demonstrate
some muscle tone. A newborn
may not be able to lift the head or
arch the back in this position but
neither should the infant sag into
an inverted “U” position. The latter
response indicates extremely
poor muscle tone, which needs to
be investigated.
Step-in-Place Newborns who are held in a
Reflex vertical position with their feet
touching a hard surface will take a
few quick, alternating steps (Fig.
18.6). This reflex disappears by 3
months of age.
Placing Reflex The placing reflex is elicited by
touching the anterior lower leg
against a surface such as the
edge of a table.
Magnet Reflex A pressure is applied to the soles
of the feet of a newborn lying in a
supine position.
Trunk When a newborn lies in a prone
Incurvation position and is touched along the
Reflex paravertebral area on the back by
a probing finger.
Deep Tendon Reflex The muscle tendon of the infant is
tapped briskly using a reflex
hammer.
This reaction is elicited by
supporting the infant horizontally
in the air in the prone position.
The reaction is present if the
infant raises his head and arches
his back with the concavity
upwards. A subsidiary part of the
response is partial extension of
the lower limbs at the hip-joints.
When the baby instinctively
makes stepping motions, they’re
moving muscles in their legs in a
way that will eventually send them
scampering around on foot. Think
of it as their brain practicing to
walk one day.
The newborn makes a few quick
lifting leg motions, as if to step
onto the table.
The newborn pushes back
against the pressure. This and the
two following reflexes are tests of
spinal cord integrity
the newborn flexes the trunk and
swings the pelvis toward the
touch
The muscle immediately contracts
due to a two-neuron reflex arc
involving the spinal or brainstem
segment that innervates the
muscle.