What are primitive reflexes?
Primitive reflexes come from our brain stem which are responsible to help keep us alive during the first year of life. The movements of these reflexes help to drive the development of the limbic part of our brain (our emotional brain or emotion centre) which helps to regulate all the emotions that are going on and at the same time regulating our autonomic nervous system.
Then we get the next part of our brain kicking in - the neocortex. The Neocortex is involved with many major functions such as decision making and procedural memory - it is ‘the great inhibitor’. It helps to calm down emotional responses and outbursts, regulate our autonomic nervous system as well as calming down primitive responses that happen at the brainstem level. When there are primitive reflexes coming through it suggests that ‘the great inhibitor’ is not doing a good job at inhibiting.
Primitive reflexes are mediated by the brain stem and should be integrated by the developing brain by 6-12 months of age. As the brain develops, higher centres in the brain inhibit the stereotypical survival primitive reflexes and this makes way for the postural reflexes. Postural reflexes continue to develop until the child is is about 3.5 years old and once established they should remain for life. These help to allow for unconscious control of posture, balance, coordination and voluntary movements in gravity.
Persistent primitive reflexes may present as:
▪️Speech and language issues
▪️Poor hand-writing and pencil grip issues
▪️Poor posture and weak core / posterior trunk muscles.
▪️Poor Coordination and balance issues
▪️Easily distracted by unimportant stimuli
▪️Aggressive and overly reactive
▪️Difficulty relaxing
▪️Trouble crossing midline
Assessment of these reflexes in babies and children give us important information about the integrity of the brainstem and the spinal cord. Checking that this integration has happened allows us to assess overall brain function and predicts the learning ability of the child.
Has your child had a primitive reflex exam before?