MORO REFLEX
Test: reflex is best elicited when infant is startled - loud noises, sudden flashes of light, or changes in vestibular position can stimulate this reflex. In the video, you can see the examiner holds the baby off the ground, and then suddenly allows the baby to drop a few inches downward. Sudden dropping of the infant's head in relation to its trunk evokes this response.
Normal response: Stage 1: The infant will change from its flexed position to one of extension - with the arms abducted and straightened, and palms opened. Stage 2: It will be followed by adduction of arms and baby will reassume the flexed position.
Appears: 28-32 weeks gestation
Disappears: 3-5 months
Abnormal persistence: >6months
Abnormalities:
Depressed or absent moro reflex - bilateral disturbance of CNS
-Hydranencephaly: cerebral hemispheres are absent with CSF in their place
-Micrenecephaly vera: heterogenous group of AR disorders that include symptoms of small head size due to underproliferation and also simplified gyri
Asymmetric moro reflex - disturbance of PNS
-root, plexus, or nerve disease - specifically fractured clavicle or brachial plexus injury
