Moro reflex

Meanings

1. A normal primitive reflex elicited by a sudden stimulus, involving abduction and extension of the arms, followed by adduction; it develops between 28 and 32 weeks of gestation and disappears at 3–6 months of age.

Etymology

Named after Austrian physician and pediatrician Ernst Moro (1874–1951), who was the first in western medicine to describe the reflex.