Forced Grasping and Groping

The grasp and other primitive reflexes

“…Pressure on the palm rather than movement appears to be the most important feature when eliciting this reflex. 4 Many of the phenomena of this reaction have been classified as "forced groping" or "forced grasping" by other authors, 3 and there may be an overlap or coexistence with utilisation behaviour.…”

Clinical signs in diffuse cerebral dysfunction.

“…Grasp reflex (Adie and Critchley, 1927;Bucy, 1931;Walshe, 1935;Bieber, 1940;Seyffarth and Denny-Brown, 1948;Paulson and Gottlieb, 1968;Shahani et al, 1970;Villeneuve et al, 1974) This reflex was tested both with and without distraction. First the subject was told, 'Do not hold on', while the examiner used his own finger to stroke the palmar surface of the subject's hand.…”

Clinical symptoms of bilateral anterior cerebral artery territory infarction

“…11,12 Although their disease specificity is controversial, a combination of several primitive reflexes is not observed in normal controls. 13 Some studies have further suggested that forced grasping is caused by damage to the SMA and anterior cingulate cortex.…”