A reflex is an instinctive, automatic physical reaction to a particular stimulus that occurs without conscious thought. For example, if we trip and fall, we instinctively put our arms and hands out to break our fall; if we touch something hot we instinctively withdraw from the source of contact. We have hundreds of these reflexes.
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Babies are born with a set of so-called ‘primitive’ reflexes. These develop in the womb and are essential to the birthing process, help the newborn take its first breath and support its early survival. They instinctively enable us to perform certain tasks such as feeding, grasping and responding to danger. As human babies are born before their brains have fully developed, they rely on these automatic, instinctive reactions to survive. Primitive reflexes are also crucial to our early development, each teaching us a certain function such as rolling over, crawling, standing and walking.

The early survival reflexes are called ‘primitive’ reflexes because they emanate from the lower or ‘primitive’ regions of the central nervous system (i.e. the spinal cord and brain stem). Broadly speaking, the central nervous system develops in stages, “from the bottom up”, starting with the spinal cord and brainstem. The last part of the central nervous system to mature is the cortex , which is responsible for higher cognitive functions, such as thinking, conceptualising and learning.
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All being well, the primitive reflexes should serve their purpose during the baby’s first year of life and should then ‘ inhibit’ or ‘switch off’, as the higher centres of the brain begin to mature and take over. They don’t completely disappear but form the foundation for adult postural reflexes which in turn enable the higher more sophisticated centres of the brain to develop.
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Whilst all babies are tested for the presence of primitive reflexes shortly after birth, no follow-up testing is generally carried out to ensure that these reflexes have inhibited.