Postural Reflexes

Collectively, the postural reflexes provide the basis for automatic control of posture, balance, and coordination in a gravity-based environment. Control of posture and movement is organized at three different hierarchical levels: the highest of these comprises the association cortex with major inputs from the limbic cortex. Labyrinthine head righting reflexes (LHRRs) start to develop just a few weeks after birth (around two months) as the infant learns to lift its head up in line with its body. There are three types of postural reflexes: righting reactions, placing reactions, and equilibrium reactions. The Landau reflex emerges between three and four months of postnatal life, following the emergence of head righting in the prone position. The parachute reflex is the last of the postural reflexes to develop, usually emerging at eight to nine months of age. Visual and tactile placing are exhibited in the older infant.