Parachute Reflex (redirected from Anterior Propping Reaction)

parachute reflex

n.

See startle reflex.

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parachute reflex

[per′əsho̅o̅t]

a variation of the Moro reflex whereby an infant is tested for motor nerve development by suspending him or her in the prone position and then dropping him or her a short distance onto a soft surface. If the motor nerve development is normal, the infant at 4 to 6 months will extend the arms, hands, and fingers on both sides of the body in a protective movement. Also called startle reflex.

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Parachute Reflex

Protective abduction of arms, extension of elbows and wrists and spreading of fingers, a normal defence reflex, elicited when an infant is held in ventral suspension and is tilted abruptly forward toward the floor, seen in the 8th–12th month of age, a response that is asymmetrical in infants with hemiparesis and is an early sign of cerebral palsy