Toe phasic posture reflex: description and distribution among patients with neurological disease and in the general population.

A clinical sign is described consisting of a brief extension of the toes af ter upward tapping of the plantar surface of their terminal phalanges. Elec trological data support the hypothesis of a long loop reflex, which we call the "toe phasic posture reflex" (TPPR), In a preliminary study, this sign was observed in patients with central nervous system disease, especially in subcortical brain disorders regardless of etiology. In Parkinson's disease , it was seen mostly in severe and postural forms. Among 237 healthy subjec ts, if was observed in none of those under 70 years old (n=116), and in 10p . cent of those over 69 years and doing no sport (n=132), but in none of th ose doing regularly gymnastics or swimming (n=29). TPPR could thus be a sig n of motor and especially postural aging.