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Abnormal posturing is an involuntary flexion or extension of the arms and legs, indicating severe brain injury.It occurs when one set of muscles becomes incapacitated while the opposing set is not, and an external stimulus such as pain causes the working set of muscles to contract. [1]
Abnormal posturing Opisthotonus or opisthotonos (from Ancient Greek : ὄπισθεν , romanized : opisthen , lit. 'behind' and τόνος , tonos , 'tension') is a state of severe hyperextension and spasticity in which an individual's head, neck and spinal column enter into a complete "bridging" or "arching" position.
Decorticate posturing, with elbows, wrists and fingers flexed, and legs extended and rotated inward. Brain herniation frequently presents with abnormal posturing, [2] a characteristic positioning of the limbs indicative of severe brain damage.
In other words, a decorticate lesion is closer to the cortex, as opposed to a decerebrate posturing which indicates that the lesion is closer to the brainstem. Pupil size Pupil assessment is often a critical portion of a comatose examination, as it can give information as to the cause of the coma; the following table is a technical, medical ...
Tonic posturing preceding convulsion has been observed in sports injuries at the moment of impact [2] [3] where extension and flexion of opposite arms occur despite body position or gravity. The fencing response emerges from the separation of tonic posturing from convulsion and refines the tonic posturing phase as an immediate forearm motor ...
In humans, true decerebrate rigidity is rare since the damage to the brain centers it might be caused by usually are lethal. However, decorticate rigidity can be caused by bleeding in the internal capsule which causes damage to upper motor neurons. The symptoms of decorticate rigidity are flexion in the upper limbs and extension in the lower limbs.
Brainstem damage above the red nucleus level may cause decorticate rigidity. Responding to a startling or painful stimulus, the arms flex and the legs extend. The cause is the red nucleus, via the rubrospinal tract, counteracting the extensor motorneuron's excitation from the lateral vestibulospinal and reticulospinal tracts.
Brain death - Lazarus sign. The Lazarus sign or Lazarus reflex is a reflex movement in brain-dead or brainstem failure patients, [1] which causes them to briefly raise their arms and drop them crossed on their chests (in a position similar to some Egyptian mummies).