Gordon reflex

Under the Gordon reflex the neurologist understands a pathological foot reflex. The crane-like toe movement is a pyramidal trajectory and indicates damage to the central motor neurons. Diseases such as multiple sclerosis are possible causes.

What is the Gordon Reflex?

Neurology knows the Gordon reflex as a pathological reflex of the toes, which can occur symptomatically in the context of neurological diseases. The knee-jerk movement will too Toe sign, Gordon-Scharfer reflex or Calf reflex called and can be observed on the individual limbs of the foot.

The doctor triggers the reflex movement by kneading the patient's calves. The big toe then involuntarily extends upwards, while the other phalanges of the toes perform grasping movements.

The Gordon reflex is counted among the pyramidal signs and is an indication of lesions of the central motor neurons. These neurons are motor switching points in the central nervous system that are responsible for motor functions.

Pyramidal trajectories refer to the pyramidal tracts of the spinal cord. These motor and central nervous systemic tracts are located in the anterior horn of the spinal cord and control primarily voluntary movements, but also reflex movements.

The Gordon reflex was named after its first descriptor, Alfred Gordon. This American neurologist speculated in the 20th century about the pathological value of the reflex movement in adults.

Function & task

A control center for motor skills is located in the human spinal cord anterior horn. The nerve tracts are also known as pyramidal tracts and consist of several motor neurons. The so-called first motor neuron is located in the cerebral cortex. This neuron is also known as the upper motor neuron. The second motor neuron, on the other hand, is located directly in the anterior horn of the spinal cord and is called the lower motor neuron. Both motor neurons are alpha neurons. Thanks to their thick axons, these motor nerve tracts have a conduction speed of around 80 m / s and influence the fibers of the skeletal muscles.

The pyramidal tracts of the anterior horn of the spinal cord are efferents. As efferent pathways, they convey information through bioelectrical impulses from the central nervous system to the organs of success in the body. In the motor nerve pathways, the muscles of the skeletal muscles are the organs of success. This is how the muscle fibers are instructed to move.

Reflex control, in particular, can only run via the spinal cord. Many of the human reflexes are protective reflexes that are supposed to protect against injury. Individual perceptions come into question as triggers, especially those of the visual system. If the control center of the motor reflexes were in the brain, the muscles would not perform the movements in time. This means that the reflexes could no longer fulfill their protective function. Because impulses controlled by the brain do not reach the muscle fibers fast enough.Movement impulses with interconnection in the anterior horn of the spinal cord have to go shorter distances and thus reach the target organs faster.

To illustrate this, an example: If the mucous membrane of the airways is irritated, it triggers a cough reflex. This is to prevent the aspiration of liquid and food components. The cough reflex protects people from suffocation. In the case of an interconnection with distances that are too long, people would only cough when they have already inhaled the liquid or the food components. This would lose the actual protective function of the reflex movement.

Compared to an infant, the adult has far fewer reflexes. Babies, for example, have a sucking reflex that is triggered by touching their lips. In the course of their natural development they lose this reflex because suckling is no longer life-sustaining for them.

The Gordon reflex is also a physiological, i.e. natural reflex for infants under one year of age. So when her calves are kneaded, her big toe moves up on one or both sides. The rest of the foot members perform a gripping movement analogously. At a certain age, this reflex disappears.

Illnesses & ailments

In adults, the Gordon reflex is to be assessed as pathological and indicates damage to the motor neurons. Such lesions presumably interfere with the overall control of motor skills. The muscles that belong together in infancy are therefore stimulated together again. The Gordon reflex results from lesions in the central nervous system and is therefore to be understood as a symptom of a certain primary disease.

Both the Oppenheim reflex and the Babinski reflex, as well as the Chaddock reflex or the Strümpell signs can accompany the Gordon reflex. They are all pathological reflexes from the Babinski group. This symptomatic group of reflexes is also known as the pyramidal orbit signs.

The diagnostic value of the Gordon reflex has now been questioned. Only if further reflexes from the Babinski group can be triggered in individual cases is there still talk of a reliable diagnostic criterion today. The entire Babinski group has been implicated in central motor neuron damage. The examination of these pathological reflexes is a standard in neurological diagnostics.

A lesion of central nervous system motor neurons can be due to various primary diseases of the central nervous system. The degenerative disease ALS, for example, is a possible cause. In this disease, the motor nerve cells break down bit by bit in the motor nervous system.

In addition to the motor neurons in the brain, the spinal cord can also be affected by the decay. When the first motor neuron is damaged, muscle weaknesses, insecurity of movement or even paralysis occur. Damage to the second motor neuron, on the other hand, causes spastic symptoms.

MS can also damage motor neurons under certain circumstances. In the autoimmune disease, the immune system attacks central nervous tissue and thus causes inflammation. Signs of the pyramidal tract shortly after the onset of multiple sclerosis are associated with an unfavorable prognosis.