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Leon Cohen, MD, PhD; Anthony Iannone, MD

Arch Neurol. 1967;17(4):419-428.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

INVOLUNTARY plantar flexion of the toes which continues for many seconds after withdrawal of an evoking stimulus is occasionally observed in patients with diffuse brain lesions or focal lesions involving the frontal lobe. This response has been designated by various authors as the "grasp reflex of the foot,"¹ the "tonic foot response,"² or the "tonic innervation phenomenon in the foot"³ emphasizing the involuntary quality, prolonged duration, and flexor direction of the abnormal motor synergy.

The site and modality of stimulation which is adequate to evoke the tonic foot response is still unclear. Brain and Curran¹ stated that the appropriate stimulus is light pressure on the distal plantar surface of the foot or toes. Goldstein² reported that stationary tactile plantar stimulation, particularly if intense or painful, was adequate to induce the flexor synergy; and in one of his seven cases, stimulation of the contralateral plantar . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
Palo Alto, Calif

From the Division of Neurology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, Calif.

Footnotes
Submitted for publication Dec 28, 1966; accepted May 10, 1967.

Reprint requests to Division of Neurology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, Calif 94304 (Dr. Cohen).

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