Sensory processing
The Spinal Galant Reflex: What It Is and What Persistence Is Associated With
Stroke a newborn's back beside the spine and the hip on that side swings up. What that is for, and what is claimed about it later.
- Expert Reviewed
- Evidence Based
- Patient Focused
The spinal Galant reflex — also called the Galant reflex, truncal incurvation or trunk incurvation — is elicited by stroking an infant's back about a centimeter to one side of the spine, from shoulder to buttock, while the infant is held face-down. The trunk flexes toward the stroked side and the pelvis swings upward on that side.1 It appears by 32 weeks of gestation and typically disappears by 4 to 6 months.1 Its likely purpose is mechanical: lateral flexion in response to pressure from the uterine wall may help position the fetus during delivery.1 This is the reflex most often invoked in claims about fidgeting and bedwetting in older children, and this page is careful about the difference between what is associated and what is established.
What is the Galant reflex (truncal incurvation)?
The Galant reflex is a newborn’s sideways curl of the trunk toward a touch that runs down the back beside the spine. Clinicians call it the spinal Galant reflex or truncal incurvation; you will also see trunk incurvation, and the common misspelling “gallant reflex”. All of these are the same response.1
The clinical reference groups it with the Babinski and stepping reflexes as the primitive reflexes of the lower body, which support early motor development.1
What it is thought to be for. The reflex may facilitate fetal positioning during delivery, by producing lateral flexion in response to pressure from the uterine wall.1
How is the spinal Galant reflex tested in a newborn?
The examiner strokes beside the spine while the baby is held face down, and watches the trunk curve. The infant is held in ventral suspension — face down, supported. The examiner strokes down the back roughly one centimeter to the side of the spine, from the shoulder toward the buttock. The trunk flexes laterally toward the stimulated side, and the pelvis swings upward on that side.1
Both sides are checked. For the reflexes of this group, absence, asymmetry, persistence or reappearance can each point to an underlying neuromuscular or central nervous system problem, so a difference between left and right is part of what is being looked for.1
Technique matters. Each reflex needs a specific position, stimulus and observation, and a test done the wrong way can give a false result in either direction.1 This is a clinician’s examination, not something to try at home.
When does the Galant reflex appear, and when does it go away?
It appears by 32 weeks of gestation and typically disappears by 4 to 6 months.1
| Point | What is expected1 |
|---|---|
| By 32 weeks of gestation | The reflex appears. |
| By 4 to 6 months | Typically disappears. |
That makes it one of the shorter-lived reflexes of the lower body. The plantar grasp of the foot lasts until 9 to 12 months, and the Babinski response is normal until 12 to 24 months.1 A Galant response in a baby of three or four months is inside its window; the question starts after six.
What does an absent or asymmetric Galant reflex mean?
An absent Galant reflex may indicate spinal cord pathology or peripheral nerve dysfunction, and a response that differs between the two sides falls under the same rule for this group of reflexes: it may indicate a neuromuscular or central nervous system problem.1
An absent Galant reflex
An absent Galant reflex may indicate spinal cord pathology or peripheral nerve dysfunction.1 As with the Moro, absence in a newborn is a finding for a doctor rather than for a program.
Age changes what a finding means. In the clinical reference’s words, absent reflexes in early infancy and persistent reflexes later in development are both associated with adverse neurologic outcomes, which is why the same reflex is read differently at two weeks and at two years.1
Does a retained Galant reflex cause bedwetting or fidgeting?
That has not been established. Persistence beyond infancy has been associated with bedwetting, with fidgeting while seated — the explanation offered is that clothing touching the back triggers the reflex — with poor concentration, and with difficulty in fine motor tasks.1
Read that carefully, because this reflex is where the strongest claims get made. “Associated with” is what the reference says, and it is not the same as “causes”. A child who fidgets has many possible reasons to fidget; a child who wets the bed has many possible reasons for that too. Occupational therapy guidance is explicit that a retained reflex does not automatically mean impairment,2 and the 2026 systematic review of this literature concluded that the available evidence “remains limited and heterogeneous”.3
That review is also a useful check on how common a retained Galant is. Across its 14 studies of children aged 3 to 11 without a neurodevelopmental diagnosis, the reflexes most often found still active were the ATNR, the STNR and the TLR; the Galant was not among the three.3
How the reflex is found in an older child matters too. In preschool and school-age children, retained reflexes are usually assessed with the Sally Goddard-Blythe battery. A newer scale that includes the spinal Galant among seven reflexes, developed in China and published in 2025, has not yet achieved broad validation or formal endorsement by major pediatric or neurologic organizations.1
If bedwetting is the reason you are reading, its usual causes and treatments are on our bedwetting page. They are worth working through first, whatever is said about reflexes.
What should I do if a therapist says my child has a retained Galant reflex?
Ask what everyday difficulty the finding is meant to explain and how you will both know whether that difficulty has improved, because occupational therapy’s own guidance is that intervention should aim at participation and performance rather than at the reflex itself.2
If the presenting problem is bedwetting or difficulty concentrating, those are worth assessing on their own terms first — both have common causes that are checked for routinely and treated directly. The questions worth asking about a reflex-integration recommendation are on the parent article.
Questions to ask
- What task is this for? AOTA advises against reflex integration programs without a clear link to everyday outcomes.2
- How was the reflex tested? Ask which tool was used; the newest scale is not yet broadly validated.1
- How will we measure progress? AOTA asks for standardized tools that connect the finding to what the child can do.2
- Has the bedwetting or attention been assessed directly? Those have their own causes and their own treatments.
The trial most often cited for reflex programs is a 2000 randomized, double-blind study in The Lancet. Sixty children aged 8 to 11 with reading difficulties and a persistent ATNR were matched into three groups, and only the group given a specific movement sequence showed a significant fall in ATNR levels.4 The result it reports is a change in a different reflex, in a small group, a quarter of a century ago. The full questions to ask a provider are on the parent article, and you can find a pediatric physical therapist for a second assessment.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the spinal Galant reflex?
It is a newborn response also called truncal incurvation. Stroking the back about a centimeter to one side of the spine, from shoulder to buttock, makes the trunk flex toward that side and the pelvis swing upward.
When does the Galant reflex go away?
It appears by 32 weeks of gestation and typically disappears by 4 to 6 months.
Does a retained Galant reflex cause bedwetting?
Persistence beyond infancy has been ASSOCIATED with bedwetting, fidgeting while seated, poor concentration and fine motor difficulty. Association is not causation, and bedwetting has common causes that are checked for routinely. It is worth assessing directly rather than assuming a reflex explains it.
What does an absent Galant reflex mean?
An absent Galant reflex may indicate spinal cord pathology or peripheral nerve dysfunction, and should be assessed by a doctor.
Is the trunk incurvation reflex the same as the Galant reflex?
Yes. Galant reflex, spinal Galant reflex, truncal incurvation and trunk incurvation are four names for the same newborn response: stroking beside the spine makes the trunk curve toward the stroked side.
Is it spelled Galant or gallant?
Galant, with one l. Gallant reflex is a common misspelling of the same reflex.
Sources
- Chamarthi VS, Gunasekaran V, Daley SF. Primitive Reflexes: Comprehensive Neurological Assessment Across the Lifespan. In: StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing; updated 2026. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK554606 (PMID 32119493). Checked August 25, 2026.
- American Occupational Therapy Association. Don’t use reflex integration programs for individuals with delayed primary motor reflexes without clear links to occupational outcomes. Recommendation AOTA8, Choosing Wisely clinician list, July 27, 2021. archived recommendation. Checked October 5, 2026.
- Provazník A, Musálek M, Bob P, Větrovský T, Malambo C, Silva AF, Anderson D. Persisting primitive reflexes and motor and cognitive development in children: a systematic review. Acta Psychologica. 2026;266:106915. doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2026.106915 (PMID 42061063).
- McPhillips M, Hepper PG, Mulhern G. Effects of replicating primary-reflex movements on specific reading difficulties in children: a randomised, double-blind, controlled trial. The Lancet. 2000;355(9203):537–541. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(99)02179-0 (PMID 10683004).
Medical disclaimer. This page is for general educational purposes and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider about your child. Sensory and motor concerns are best assessed by an occupational or physical therapist who can evaluate your individual child.