The palmar grasp reflex is a primitive, prehensile, involuntary response to a mechanical stimulus present in a newborn. It appears around 16 weeks of gestation and can be elicited in preterm infants as young as 25 weeks of postconceptional age.[1][2][3]
When an object is placed in the hand, newborns will press down on it with their fingers (the palmar grasp reflex). This also happens with the toes when objects are presented to the soles of the feet (the plantar grasp reflex).
The Palmar grasp involves your child learning to grab an object with their whole hand – including their thumb. While there's a natural reflex at birth for this kind of motion. It takes some time for your little one to slowly work it out as a deliberate movement.
The palmar grasp reflex and the plantar grasp reflex can be elicited in all infants during the first 3 and 6 months of age, respectively. Thereafter they decrease along with the intensity of the responses, usually disappearing by 6 and 12 months of age, respectively [6, 7, 25–27].
Palmar Supinate Pencil Grasp
First, the toddler will use their whole hand as one unit, wrapping all of their fingers around the crayons with their thumb positioned at the top of the crayon and their pinkie toward the paper. This grasp pattern is called a "palmar supinate" or "gross grasp".
Babies a few months old are unable to organize movements to grab an object voluntarily. The palmar reflex probably serves to create a basic motor pattern that lays the foundation for obtaining this voluntary ability. Furthermore, this reflection creates interaction and bonds between the infant and the adult.
Fine motor skills.
These smaller, more precise movements include grasping and holding onto something, picking up objects with the palmar grasp and pincer grasp, scribbling or drawing, stacking blocks or toys, cutting with safety scissors, folding clothing, self-feeding with utensils, and using a zipper.
Palmar Grasp (typically developed by 4-6 months) – this grasp progresses from your child using his “pinky finger” side of the hand only to pick up objects to using the central portion of the palm to pick up objects from a flat surface. This grasp does not involve use of the thumb.
Palmar Grasp: Around Ages 2- 3 Years Old
For palmar grasp, all fingers are around the writing tool, with the wrist turned so the palm of the hand is facing down picking up the object. Children begin to stabilize their shoulders and movement comes mostly from the elbow.
Activities to help promote gross grasp, strength and release are: • Squeezing water from sponges at bath time • Posting toys • Squeezing play dough • Scrunching up paper into balls • Stacking blocks on top of one another • Throwing objects.
Here is how grasping evolves: 4-6 Months: Ulnar palmar grasp, palmar grasp, and radial palmar grasp. All build the full-hand grasp, beginning with a few fingers and eventually using the thumb to hold an object. 7-8 Months: Raking grasp and radial digital grasp.
At this age, a young toddler begins use a palmar supinate grasp. It is a fisted grasp with the thumb wrapped at the top of the writing utensil. This is usually accompanied by scribbling. This is considered a primitive grasp.
What is a Palmar Grasp? Palmar grasp is actually one of the earlier stages of development of the pincer grasp. It involves bringing the fingers inwards towards the palms, letting the fingers curl around the object. Most babies develop the palmar grasp right at birth, and it can persist until 4-6 months of age.
Palmar/Grasp Reflex
The Palmar reflex is the automatic flexing of fingers to grab an object and should integrate by six months. If the Palmar reflex is retained, a child may have difficulty with fine motor skills, stick out tongue while writing, and exhibit messy handwriting.
Palmar grasp reflex: The Palmar Grasp reflex is an involuntary response when touching a baby's palm. It is vital for the development of fine motor skills. In children with autism and other neurodevelopmental delays, this reflex may be exaggerated or prolonged, leading to issues with fine motor skills.
Starts to develop around 8-9 months. Baby starts to use the pads of the pointer finger and thumb to grasp a small object. This grasp is also often called an inferior pincer grasp.
The grasp reflex ("forced grasping") was reported by Adie and Critchley in 1927 to be a manifestation of frontal lobe disease. Experimental and clinical cases have shown it to be due to lesions of the supplementary motor area, which is located just anterior to the foot area on the medial surface of the frontal lobe.
Clinical significance
In humans, absence of the palmar grasp reflex or persistence of the reflex can both be indicators of neurodevelopmental abnormalities. In a normal infant, the palmar grasp reflex is present during the first three months of age and disappears by six months of age.
The development of grasping is an important component of child development stages, wherein the main types of grasps are: Raking grasp, wherein the fingers, but not including the thumb, do all the holding. Palmar grasp, wherein the fingers squeeze against the palm, instead of against themselves as in the raking grasp.
Three to Five Years: Two- or Three-Finger Tripod Grasp
As your child nears school age, you should see them consistently using one hand to hold crayons and using thumb and two- or three-finger tripod grasp.
Grasp-types
The thumb is positioned in opposition to the other fingers and the palm of the hand is not involved (Fig 4a). Grasp-types. a: Multi-pulpar, b: Pluri-digital c: Lateral Pinch, d: Palmar, e: Digito-palmar, f: Raking, g: Ulnar, h: Inter-digital.
Stroking the palm of a baby's hand causes the baby to close his or her fingers in a grasp. The grasp reflex lasts until the baby is about 5 to 6 months old. A similar reflex in the toes lasts until 9 to 12 months.