What is the plantar reflex?
A cutaneous reflex (i.e., one triggered by skin stimulation). In normal subjects, a noxious
stimulation of the sole leads to a plantar flexion of thetoes, including the big toe. Conversely, in organic
neurologic disease, there will be an extensor response (i.e., an upward movement of the great toe). Babinski
used this finding to exclude hysterical weakness, which typically lacks “Babinski,” as this reflex soon came to
be known
A cutaneous reflex (i.e., one triggered by skin stimulation). In normal subjects, a noxious
stimulation of the sole leads to a plantar flexion of thetoes, including the big toe. Conversely, in organic
neurologic disease, there will be an extensor response (i.e., an upward movement of the great toe). Babinski
used this finding to exclude hysterical weakness, which typically lacks “Babinski,” as this reflex soon came to
be known