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Compare and contrast one "adaptive" and one "vestigial" newborn reflex and describe their
plausible survival functions for either modern humans or our primate ancestors.

At birth, human newborns possess a variety of apparently innate responses to particular

stimuli known as reflexes that have survival value for the infant (von Hofsten, 2004).
Reflexes that fulfilled a survival function in human ancestors but that no longer perform that
function in modern humans typically because said function is made redundant by
evolutionary changes are characterised as vestigial reflexes, whilst those that retain their
value are called adaptive reflexes. However, a number of reflexes categorised as vestigial
reflexes due to a loss of one or more of their survival functions still fulfil other, adaptive
roles in the early life of the newborn human and are not just vestiges of an early stage of
human evolution. This review will focus on one adaptive reflex and one vestigial reflex
the rooting reflex and the palmar grasp reflex respectively and will demonstrate that both
reflexes have adaptive functions in modern humans and also aided survival in humanitys
ancestors despite the partial loss of function of the palmar grasp reflex.

The basic processes of the two reflexes will be discussed first to provide a foundation for
understanding the nature of rooting and palmar grasping as reflexive responses. This section
will detail and compare the production, modulation and development of the reflexes in
newborns. The review will then discuss the potential survival functions of rooting and
palmar grasping, firstly analysing the potential value of the palmar grasp reflex for human
ancestors i.e. that which has faded and is no longer relevant to newborns today and
then finally looking at the possible survival functions of both reflexes in modern humans.
The aim of this review is to consider how the two reflexes compare to one another and to
show that they both retain significant survival value for modern human newborns.

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The rooting reflex involves the newborn turning its head towards a stimulus received near
to the newborns mouth (usually tactile but possibly visual or auditory; Koepke & Bigelow,
1997) with coordinated opening of the mouth and pursing of the lips (Sheppard & Mysak,
1984), though more recently rooting is used to refer to the head orientation alone (Colson,
Meek & Hawdon, 2008). The palmar grasp reflex, as the name suggests, entails the closing
of the digits in response to tactile stimulation of the palm to clasp the source of the stimulus
and retain it in the grasp so long as pressure continues to be exerted on the hand and arm
muscles (Schott & Rossor, 2003). Both reflexes can be modulated under different conditions
to produce different responses: after repeated stimulation the rooting reflex changes to
turning the head away from the stimulus for a short period (Prechtl, 1958), and studies by
Molina and Jouen and by Rochat indicate that newborns modulate the frequency and
strength of their palmar grasp reflex according to the texture and rigidity of the items
producing the stimuli (Molina & Jouen, 1998; Rochat, 1987). In addition, the rooting reflex is
not elicited in newborns stimulating their own face (Rochat & Hespos, 1997). The possible
reasons for these reflexive sensitivities relate to the adaptive functions of each reflex, which
will be discussed later.

In terms of development over time, both the rooting reflex and the palmar grasping reflex
are not only present in infants but actually appear during foetal development (Rochat,
1987): the beginnings of rooting can be seen as early as nine and a half weeks into gestation
(Prechtl, 1958) and early palmar grasping emerges at roughly the same time (Robinson,
1966). However, the palmar grasp reflex matures faster than rooting, being observed as
fully-developed by eighteen weeks (Bremner, 1988) compared to mature rooting at twentytwo weeks (Prechtl, 1958). However, whilst the rooting reflex is present from birth (at least,
from the first feeding onwards: Koepke & Bigelow, 1997) the palmar grasping reflex cannot
be produced by palmar stimulation until around two weeks after birth (Twitchell, 1965).
One possible explanation for this is that the palmar reflex simply doesnt need to develop
fully when newly born and that the rooting reflex is necessary for feeding immediately so
that the newborn can survive. A weaker, less reliable form of the grasp reflex that doesnt
engage fully may still be present from birth but develop further later on.

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Both reflexes have a limited duration after their appearance in newborns, with the rooting
reflex starting to weaken and fade at around six weeks and disappearing after six months
(Rochat & Hespos, 1997; Sheppard & Mysak, 1984) and the palmar grasp reflex becomes
less frequent by the fourth month and virtually non-existent by the time the infant is six
months old (Futagi, Toribe & Suzuki, 2012). One possible reason why these reflexes appear
to disappear is that neural reorganisation causes increased control over the hindbrain,
thereby inhibiting reflex activation (Bremner, 1988; Herschkowitz, 2000). As the infant
develops the reflexes also develop and change before disappearing altogether, with rooting
developing to react more frequently and for longer periods to self-stimulation (Rochat &
Hespos, 1997) and palmar grasping gradually becoming more nuanced so that items can be
gripped more firmly between the thumb and fingers (Twitchell, 1965). These developments
reflect the adaptive functions that the reflexes change to fulfil at different stages of
development, which will be discussed later.

Now that the basic characteristics of the two reflexes have been outlined and compared this
review will proceed to discuss the importance of rooting and palmar grasping to the survival
of newborn humans. The vestigial value of the palmar grasping reflex to human ancestors
will be looked at first and then the plausible survival functions of both reflexes to modern
human newborns will be discussed.

The vestigial value of the palmar grasp reflex to human ancestors is usually considered to
have been for ensuring a tight grip on the newborns mother for the period of life prior to
being capable of self-locomotion (Futagi et al., 2012). According to the proposed function,
the palmar grasp was primarily used by newborns to cling onto their mothers fur at a time
when humanitys ancestors had sufficient fur to grasp firmly and were living in an arboreal

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environment where they lived in the trees, thus necessitating climbing and jumping
movements that newborn infants would be unable to perform until they had developed
further (Futagi et al., 2012). The palmar grasp reflex would allow newborn infants to hold
their mothers firmly without requiring the mothers to grip them, which would enable the
mothers to use their limbs freely in navigating their environment whilst keeping their infants
safe (Futagi et al., 2012). By allowing the mother to continue to move freely rather than be
forced to remain in one place to protect the infant until it grew old enough to move itself,
this reflex may have aided survival of the newborn infant by increasing its chances of
evading potential predators, as it would be more vulnerable to predation if the mother
could not carry it with her without sacrificing mobility. The strength of the reflexive grasp
would also presumably have reduced the likelihood of the newborn infant falling from
the mother and risking injury or death on the ground below.

Evidence for this past function of the palmar grasping reflex can be found from numerous
studies. Research into palmar grasping has found that even human newborns can support
their own weight with the reflex (Robinson, 1891) and that newborn non-human primates
not only exhibit the reflex (Chevalier-Skolnikoff, 1983) but can support their own weight
using it for far longer than human newborns (Richter, 1931). Brain and Curran observed that
newborn monkeys, some only a few days old, would grasp their mothers and hold onto
them whilst the mothers climbed and jumped in trees (Brain & Curran, 1932), and Blythe
claims that even for human newborns the palmar grasping reflex is stimulated best using
hair (Blythe, 2009), providing a strong case for the reflex being useful in human ancestors
(with more hair) for allowing the newborn and mother to move together from an early age
with greatly reduced risk. Furthermore, Brown and Frederickson found that newborns
produced palmar grasp reflexes that were of greater strength and duration when feeding,
suggesting that the reflex was also useful in keeping human ancestor newborns safely
secured when feeding from their mothers (Brown & Frederickson, 1977).

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The palmar grasp reflex certainly appears to have had an extremely important survival
function in humanitys primate ancestors that is no longer relevant to modern human
newborns due to subsequent evolutionary changes such as a dramatic environmental shift
as well as physical developments (e.g. the almost total loss of body hair for newborns to
grasp). The rooting reflex is known to have survival value in modern humans, but the palmar
grasp reflex is also important for newborn survival today as well as in the past, and the
functions that these reflexes play in modern humans should be examined and discussed.

Firstly, it is clear that the rooting reflex has a clear role in breastfeeding: the reflex permits
the newborn to seek and locate the mothers nipple so that it can suck on it, with the head
orienting towards objects near to or stimulating the area around the mouth so that the lips
can begin sucking on the stimulus (Schott & Rossor, 2003). Evidence for this function of the
reflex can be seen from the fact that the frequency of reflex activation is negatively
correlated with food intake, indicating that rooting is part of the homeostatic feeding
system of human newborns that is used to help infants get sufficient food (Prechtl, 1958).
However, as the infant develops and grows older the rooting reflex also changes, with the
reflex responding more strongly to stimuli that the infant controls itself (as noted
previously). This development is possibly due to a change in function linked to the increasing
articulation of the palmar grasp reflex: Rochat, Molina and Jouen, and Streri and colleagues
all posit the idea that as infants develop their reflexes particularly rooting and palmar
grasping are used to explore the environment around them by learning from the sensory
information picked up by gripping and testing items with their tactilely-sensitive fingers,
palm and mouth (Rochat, 1987; Molina & Jouen, 1998; Streri, Lhote & Dutilleul, 2000). It is
possible the rooting and palmar grasping reflexes are used by newborn infants as they
develop to learn about their environment and that this learnt information and experience
improves the sensorimotor capacities of the infants (Molina & Jouen, 1998; Rochat &
Hespos, 1997), thus contributing to functional sensorimotor ability in adulthood and
improving the likelihood that infants will survive to reproduce.

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There is another important survival role that the two reflexes contribute to forming a
close relationship with the mother, something that is particularly important for human
newborns due to their intense vulnerability during early life. One way that both reflexes are
thought to help to forge a strong relationship between the newborn and its mother is by
creating the basis for predictable patterns of behaviour and responses to stimuli: Blauvelt
argued that by providing a consistent response during breastfeeding the rooting reflex can
help the mother to coordinate her actions with her newborn and thus facilitating feeding
and survival (Blauvelt, 1962), and Brazelton and colleagues suggested that all reflexive
newborn behaviour could be viewed in this way (Brazelton, Nugent & Lester, 1987).
Furthermore, the palmar grasp reflex could strengthen this relationship further by providing
a way of gaining the mothers attention, with intimate physical contact providing a form of
communication between the mother and her newborn infant that makes the mother more
caring and attentive to the newborns needs (Als, 1977).

This review has intended to demonstrate that an adaptive reflex and a vestigial reflex
can both fulfil adaptive survival functions in modern human newborns. The rooting and
palmar grasping reflexes differ in numerous ways due to their different survival functions,
but despite the reduced function of palmar grasping compared to its use to humanitys
primate ancestors both reflexes remain important to the survival of modern human
newborns.

2000 words.

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