Plantar reflex
The plantar reflex is a reflex elicited when the sole of the foot is stimulated with a blunt instrument. The reflex can take one of two forms. In healthy adults, the plantar reflex causes a downward response of the hallux (flexion). An upward response (extension) of the hallux is known as the Babinski response or Babinski sign, named after the neurologist Joseph Babinski. The presence of the Babinski sign can identify disease of the spinal cord and brain in adults, and also exists as a primitive reflex in infants.
| Plantar reflex Babinski response/Babinski sign (pathological) | |
|---|---|
The reflex occurs upon stroking of the sole of the foot with a blunt object such as a pen. If the reflex occurs in adults as illustrated at bottom it may be due to nerve damage or disease. | |
| ICD-9-CM | 796.1 |
| MedlinePlus | 003294 |
While first described in the medical literature by Babinski in 1896, the reflex has been identified in art at least as early as Botticelli's Virgin and Child with an Angel, painted in the mid-15th century.
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