Marinescu-Radovici reflex( palmar-chin) is a typical reflex of oral automatism. It occurs normally in children up to 12-18 months, providing a friendly performance of two different functions: grasping the breast with handles and simultaneously sucking milk.
The definition of this reflex during a neurological examination, allows you to understand the cause of the disease and find out the location of the pathological process in the brain. The reflex was first described in 1920 by two neurologists Marinescu and Radovici.
Phenomena of oral automatism
Reflex Marinescu-Radovic refers to reflexes of oral automation. These are pathological reflexes on the face that occur when the central( spastic) paralysis or paresis of the facial muscles are innervated by the cranial nerves.
The appearance of these reflexes indicates a two-sided supranuclear lesion of the brain stem, subcortical structures or cortex of the cerebral hemispheres.
Reflexes of oral automatism include:
- Reflex Marinescu-Radovic, or palmar-chin .It can be triggered by dashed movements with a blunt object on the skin of the palm in the area of the base of the thumb. In response to this, a small shift of the chin's skin upwards occurs on the face of the patient, which is associated with a reduction in the chin muscle.
- Nasolabial reflex .Called with a tapping neurological hammer on the back of the nose. In response, a person extends his lips a little anteriorly, which is mediated by a contraction of the circular muscle of the mouth.
- Proboscis reflex .It is completely identical in appearance to the nasolabial, but is called when tapping on the upper or lower lip.
- The sucking reflex is manifested by the sucking movements of the lips when touched or dashed by the stimulation of the lips.
- Distans-oral syndrome of Karchikyan .If the hammer slowly approaches the lips of the patient, then without contact with the object they are stretched out in the form of a "proboscis."
All these reflexes are observed in newborns and children of the first year and a half of life, but then fade, and can occur in adults against the background of damage to the structures of the brain.
Reflex information Marineski Radovici
Reflex was first described in the twenties of the twentieth century by two Romanian neurologists Marinescu and Radovici. Observing this phenomenon in their patients, they found that the appearance of the reflex is associated with damage to the brainstem and is a reflection of the rudimentary synergy of seizure and sucking or chewing.
Reflex is to reduce the chin muscle on the face with a dashed neat palm stimulation in the base of the thumb area. As it was revealed later, nuclei of the seventh pair of cranial nerves participate in this reflex.
The reflex response time is several milliseconds. The main response is the reduction of the chin muscle on the side of the palm stimulation. At the same time on the face there is a noticeable shift of the skin on the chin in the appropriate direction.
A characteristic feature of this reflex is the one-sidedness of the reaction: when the skin is irritated to the right, the response is observed on the right side of the face, despite the bilateral lesion of the brain.
Use in
diagnostics As mentioned above, the palmar-chin reflex occurs in adults and children over one and a half years old with lesions of the brain 
structures: brainstem, subcortical formations and cerebral cortex.
Its appearance is associated with damage to the central motoneuron or its axon, and the appearance of a spastic, or central paralysis in a certain group of muscles. At the same time, the inhibitory effect of the neuron of the cerebral cortex on muscles disappears, as a result of which the reflex readiness of the muscles becomes stronger and pathological reflexes, normally absent, appear.
Most often this occurs as a result of the following diseases:
- of encephalopathy of various origin( infectious, toxic, endocrinological, etc.);
- craniocerebral traumas of the brain of of varying severity;
- hemorrhagic and ischemic strokes ;
- Multiple Sclerosis .
The emergence of any phenomena of oral automatism, incl.and Marinescu-Radovic's reflex, a serious sign of anxiety, indicating an irreversible brain damage. Therefore, when these symptoms appear, you must immediately go to a medical institution for qualified medical care.
