The polysynaptic spine-stem reflex in clinical neurology.

Data from 25 years of studies of the spinobulbospinal (SBS) reflex in normal conditions and in a variety of nervous system diseases with lesions of the afferent and efferent systems, subcortical brain formations, and musculature (contracture of the expressive muscles, myofascial pain syndrome) are presented. The instability of many characteristics of the reflex (latency, amplitude, duration of response, presence) is shown to characterize this reflex in normal conditions. These measures become more stable in central nervous system pathology, which is evidence for impairment of programs which construct and execute movements. Lesions of the peripheral neuromotor apparatus produced no significant changes in the characteristics of the SBS reflex.