110 elderly patients, 57 with and 53 without acquired neurological lesions, were examined for the presence of the grasping, snout, sucking, palmomental, glabellar and bulldog reflexes.
The results were statistically analyzed by means of the chi2 method. The percentages of the positive reflex responses, although not negligible in the neurologically healthy patients, turned out far higher in the patients with organic cerebral disorders. With the exception of the sucking and palmomental reflexes, these differences appeared statistically significant. As for the neurological diagnosis, diffuse lesions proved themselves more crucial than focal ones.
The conclusion is drawn that primitive reflexes should be regarded abnormal only in the context of an overt cerebral pathology.
