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Self‐grasping: A focal neurological sign
Author(s) -
Ropper Allan H.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
annals of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.764
H-Index - 296
eISSN - 1531-8249
pISSN - 0364-5134
DOI - 10.1002/ana.410120612
Subject(s) - grasp , psychology , parietal lobe , lesion , forearm , physical medicine and rehabilitation , sign (mathematics) , neuroscience , medicine , anatomy , computer science , mathematical analysis , mathematics , psychiatry , programming language
A physical sign is described in patients with typical bilateral grasp responses, whereby one hand graps the contralateral forearm (self‐grasping). Of 37 patients with strong bilateral grasp responses, unilateral self‐grasping occurred in 8; of these 8 patients, 7 were hemiparetic and 5 showed extinction of double simultaneous stimulation. Two patients had bilateral self‐grasping, and 27 avoided self‐grasping. In contrast, only 4 of the 27 patients without self‐grapsing were hemiparetic and 1 had associated sensory extinction. In 2 confused, uncooperative patients, unilateral self‐grasping was the most easily demonstrable focal or asymmetrical sign. The sign indicates a contralateral frontal or parietal lobe lesion. It may be related to the inability to recognize onself.