Problems Associated with Persisting Primitive Reflex in Healthy School-going Children

Introduction: Primitive reflexes, originating in the brainstem, develop in utero and vanish within six months post-birth, aiding infant motor milestones. Integration relies on cortical maturation inhibiting them via basal ganglia pathways. Persistence may indicate neurological issues lead to motor, balance, and learning difficulties. Aim: This scoping review explored the persistence of primitive reflexes and determined the problems associated with their persistence in healthy school-going children. Materials and Methods: A total of 3988 full-text published articles were identified from PubMed, Ovid-SP and Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) from 2004-2024 year. Only full text prevalence/ incidence and observational studies on children between 4-12 years are included. After duplicate deletion 3614 articles were left at abstract level, finally 63 full text articles related to research topic were further analysed and only nine articles were included in review for analysis. Results: Within group analysis for both experimental groups were found to be statistically significant for Rectus femoris and Vastus Lateralis muscles whereas between group analysis revealed general power training group to offer statistically significant improvement with p-value <0.05. Conclusion: Majority of articles show that persistence of ATNR (Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex) reflex shows neurological impairments like attention and reading difficulties while persistence of spinal galant may lead to scoliosis. In articles assessing the persistence of all primitive reflexes like ATNR/STNR (Symmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex)/TLR (Tonic Labyrinthine Reflex) may cause gait impairments and development delay. Boys exhibit higher reflex activity and attention deficits, correlating with diminished reading proficiency, emphasising the link between neuromotor maturity and academic achievement. The prevalence of primary reflexes like ATNR and TLR in preschoolers, impact attention, neuromotor development and gait. Early detection of persisting primitive reflex, and managing them with reflex integration therapy in children can help mitigate neurological development delay