In clinical studies of poliomyelitis made in the past ten years by my associates and me some marked changes were found in reflex activity which, though mentioned in a general way in the literature, have not been thoroughly analyzed. We became particularly interested in the changes that occur in the abdominal, the cremasteric and the quadriceps tendon responses.
This article deals with the results of our studies on these reflexes in normal and in pathologic conditions, with especial reference to their occurrence in 386 cases of infantile paralysis.
SUPERFICIAL ABDOMINAL SKIN REFLEX
When the abdomen of a normal subject was stroked lightly, there was a flickering response over the area stimulated. When analyzed carefully, this abdominal reflex response was found to be nearly specific for the separate quadrant irritated. This was the finding of Langworthy,1 Monrad-Krohn2 and Astwazaturow.3 If forceful stimulation was applied, it caused aberrant overplay