What is an exaggerated reflex?

Spasticity is stiff or rigid muscles. It may also be called unusual tightness or increased muscle tone. Reflexes (for example, a knee-jerk reflex) are stronger or exaggerated. The condition can interfere with walking, movement, speech, and many other activities of daily living.

What does it mean if you have no knee reflex?

The normal response is a ‘knee jerk’. This is an example of a reflex, which is an involuntary muscular response elicited by the rubber hammer tapping the associated tendon. When reflex responses are absent this could be a clue that the spinal cord, nerve root, peripheral nerve, or muscle has been damaged.

What is a brisk reflex?

Brisk reflexes refer to an above-average response during a reflex test. During a reflex test, your doctor tests your deep tendon reflexes with a reflex hammer to measure your response. This test is often done during a physical exam. Quicker responses may lead to a diagnosis of brisk reflexes.

What does the Jendrassik maneuver do?

Background. The Jendrassik maneuver (JM) is a remote facilitation muscular contraction shown to affect amplitude and temporal components of the human stretch reflex. Conflicting theoretical models exist regarding the neurological mechanism related to its ability to reinforce reflex parameters.

Is hyperreflexia serious?

It’s sometimes called hyperreflexia. More than half of people with a spinal cord injury in the upper back get it. Autonomic dysreflexia is an emergency and needs immediate medical attention. It can be life-threatening.

What are hyper reflexes a symptom of?

Hyperreflexia is a sign of upper motor neurone damage and is associated with spasticity and a positive Babinski sign.

What causes absent reflexes?

Peripheral neuropathy is today the most common cause of absent reflexes. The causes include diseases such as diabetes, alcoholism, amyloidosis, uremia; vitamin deficiencies such as pellagra, beriberi, pernicious anemia; remote cancer; toxins including lead, arsenic, isoniazid, vincristine, diphenylhydantoin.

What is a pendular reflex?

An abnormal response to a stimulus applied to the sensory components of the nervous system. This may take the form of increased, decreased, or absent reflexes.

How is Jendrassik maneuver useful in testing reflexes?

The most common method of reinforcing reflexes is the Jendrassik maneuver. In 1885, Erno Jendrassik reported that having the patient “hook together the flexed fingers of his right and left hands and pull them apart as strongly as possible” while the clinician taps on the tendon enhances the reflexes of normal patients.

Why does the Jendrassik maneuver influence the reflex response?

The JM will heighten (exaggerate) lower limb tendon reflexes by countering some of the normal descending inhibition the brain sends to the reflex arc. It can also help prevent conscious inhibition of the reflex. This is why tendon reflexes in stroke and other UMNL patients have increased reflexes.

How is the ankle jerk reflex elicited in the body?

The ankle reflex is elicited by holding the relaxed foot with one hand and striking the Achilles tendon with the hammer and noting plantar flexion. Compare to the other foot. The ankle jerk reflex is mediated by the S1 nerve root.

How are deep tendon reflexes elicited in all 4 extremities?

Deep Tendon Reflexes. Using a reflex hammer, deep tendon reflexes are elicited in all 4 extremities. Note the extent or power of the reflex, both visually and by palpation of the tendon or muscle in question.

How is reinforcement done for lower extremity reflexes?

Reinforcement is accomplished by asking the patient to clench their teeth, or if testing lower extremity reflexes, have the patient hook together their flexed fingers and pull apart. This is known as the Jendrassik maneuver. It is key to compare the strength of reflexes elicited with each other.

How are knee jerk reflexes mediated by the cerebellum?

Deep Tendon Reflexes. Repeat and compare to the other leg. The knee jerk reflex is mediated by the L3 and L4 nerve roots, mainly L4. Insult to the cerebellum may lead to pendular reflexes. Pendular reflexes are not brisk but involve less damping of the limb movement than is usually observed when a deep tendon reflex is elicited.

What is an exaggerated reflex? Spasticity is stiff or rigid muscles. It may also be called unusual tightness or increased muscle tone. Reflexes (for example, a knee-jerk reflex) are stronger or exaggerated. The condition can interfere with walking, movement, speech, and many other activities of daily living. What does it mean if you have no…