Primitive Reflexes: Brain Highways Screening for Lower Brain Development

http://theorganizedmindhq.com

Brain Highways has come up with a quick screener which assesses pons development, midbrain development, vestibular processing, proprioception, visual tracking, and eye teaming.  Challenges include "army crawling"/creeping, crawling on hands and knees, answering questions while standing on one foot, touching specific body parts with eyes closed, and following a visual target without moving one's head.  Based on difficulties identified, one can observe which primitive reflexes are not yet integrated, which areas of the brain may be underdeveloped, and what effects this may have on academic achievement.

For example, if a child has not yet integrated the Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex (ATNR) then it may be difficult for he/she to engage in tasks that require bilateral coordination of both upper extremities and lower extremities.  ATNR is the reflex that causes babies to form the "fencing position" shown below.  Sitting at a desk and turning one's head to watch the teacher as she moves about the room may be challenging for a child with ATNR because his/her entire body wants to reposition when the head moves.  It is hard for this child to disassociate head and body movements. Likewise, a child may often be seen lying his head on the table with one arm bent and the other extended.  This is often interpreted as disinterested or unengaged.  However, this may be the most naturally comfortable position for that child due to lack of primitive reflex integration. 

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com

Likewise, a child with unintegrated Symmetric Tonic Neck Reflex (STNR) may have difficulty sitting still in a desk because every time the head looks up at the board and then down towards the paper again, his/her arms and legs was to readjust.  Typically with STNR, if the head flexes then the arms flex and the legs extend.  If the head extends then the arms extend and the legs flex.  The baby below is demonstrating significant STNR.  Imagine having STNR and being asked to sit in a desk with your head looking down at your worksheet, your arms bent towards your work, and your knees bent while sitting---it would be nearly impossible and extremely uncomfortable.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com

Our pons is primarily developed through creeping ("army crawling") when we are young.  If we don't spend as much time in this position, our brain may not receive the input it needs to fully develop.  The good news is that we can go back and develop those centers of the brain through repetition of specific exercises and physical movements. The Brain Highways program suggests that the pons can be further developed through creeping on one's belly while using bilateral upper and lower extremities to advance, as shown in the top picture below . The midbrain can be further developed through repetitive crawling on hands and knees as shown in the bottom image below.

CREEPING: http://i.ytimg.com

CRAWLING: http://www.freelargeimages.com

These lower centers of the brain are responsible for vestibular processing, proprioception, visual tracking, and eye teaming.  Therefore, a task such as handwriting, which is performed every day within the classroom may be really difficult for a child with unintegrated primitive reflexes and lower brain underdevelopment.  Lack of visual motor integration leads to difficulty with letter formation, spacing, line placement, and sizing of handwriting.  Decreased attention leads to an increase in errors, difficulty following directions, and trouble generating sentences in a given amount of time.  Reading comprehension may also be effected.  Due to deficits in visual tracking, following each line when reading can be tiresome and non-preferred, causing the child to avoid reading or act out when prompted to read in class.  Proprioception, or the awareness of one's body in space, can also be effected.  Deficits in this area can cause a child to run into peers in the hallway, accidentally hurt others when giving a high five or hand shake, or push so hard that the paper rips when writing.  These are just a few ways in which academic performance can be effected by the issues discussed in this post. 

This has been a very brief overview of lower brain underdevelopment and primitive reflexes.  To access the full Brain Highways screener, one must complete the Brain Highways course, which can be accessed at the following link: www.brainhighways.com.