[Rare primitive motor patterns of the oral sense (author's transl)]

This case report presents two types of primitive motor patterns of the oral sense, the rooting reflex in an apallic patient due to encephalitis and a cobra-bite-like motor pattern in a patient with a hypoxic apallic syndrome. In the apallic syndrome the disintegration of cerebral functions to a mesodiencephalic level is a characteristic feature. The reappearance of primitive motor patterns of the oral sense in the apallic syndrome thus gives further evidence for the integration of primitive motor patterns (e.g. rooting reflex) in the brainstem reticular formation. The cobra-bite-like motor pattern combined with aggressive actions might be due to the connection between brainstem functions and limbic structures.