Investigation of grasp reflex distribution in newborns

Aim: Palmar grasp reflex is an instinctive response that allows the baby to grasp and leave the objects and it emerges with the touch on the baby's palmar surface. The response of the reflex is rapid flexion and adduction of hand fingers. The grasping reflex coming out with birth are refrained or suppressed approximately 2-4 months after birth. In this study, we aimed to analyze the proportion of the left/right hand tendency associated with the grasping reflex power coming with birth, for both male and female newborn infants based on the the prediction of lateralization. Materials and Methods: In this study, volunteer group consists of healthy newborn babies. Total number of 153 newborns are included in thestudy, 76 of them male and 76 of them female, delivered in the newborn clinic of Hafsa Sultan Hospital of Celal Bayar University. The hand preference of the father or mothers of babies are identified with "Edinburg hand preference survey". A form capturing newborn baby's information is filled out by the researcher. The measurement of grasping reflex power in babies is carried out in 2 months after the birth using a novel electronic equipment, for which utility model patent application is still pending. The measurement is repeated ten times for both right and left hand grasping. Information on the forms about families and grasping data are analyzed via SPSS™ software. Results: It is found out that, the average grasping reflex power is asymmetrically distributed. The asymmetric distribution does not show statistically meaningful correlation with the tendency to be right or left handed. The distribution of grasping power is found to be similar to the distribution of the preference of pow in animals. Conclusion: It is concluded that, palmar grasp reflex is an asymmetrically distributed primitive reflex in a newborn and the hand preference may originate from it, along with the important effects of education and social environment.