The foot is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made up of one or more segments or bones, generally including claws and/or nails.
The leg is the entire lower limb of the human body, including the foot, thigh or sometimes even the hip or buttock region. The major bones of the leg are the femur, tibia, and adjacent fibula.
Toes are the digits of the foot of a tetrapod. Animal species such as cats that walk on their toes are described as being digitigrade. Humans, and other animals that walk on the soles of their feet, are described as being plantigrade; unguligrade animals are those that walk on hooves at the tips of their toes.
The extensor hallucis longus muscle is a thin skeletal muscle, situated between the tibialis anterior and the extensor digitorum longus. It extends the big toe and dorsiflects the foot. It also assists with foot eversion and inversion.
The ankle jerk reflex, also known as the Achilles reflex, occurs when the Achilles tendon is tapped while the foot is dorsiflexed. It is a type of stretch reflex that tests the function of the gastrocnemius muscle and the nerve that supplies it. A positive result would be the jerking of the foot towards its plantar surface. Being a deep tendon reflex, it is monosynaptic. It is also a stretch reflex. These are monosynaptic spinal segmental reflexes. When they are intact, integrity of the following is confirmed: cutaneous innervation, motor supply, and cortical input to the corresponding spinal segment.
An upper motor neuron lesion Is an injury or abnormality that occurs in the neural pathway above the anterior horn cell of the spinal cord or motor nuclei of the cranial nerves. Conversely, a lower motor neuron lesion affects nerve fibers traveling from the anterior horn of the spinal cord or the cranial motor nuclei to the relevant muscle(s).
The tibial nerve is a branch of the sciatic nerve. The tibial nerve passes through the popliteal fossa to pass below the arch of soleus.
The flexor hallucis longus muscle (FHL) attaches to the plantar surface of phalanx of the great toe and is responsible for flexing that toe. The FHL is one of the three deep muscles of the posterior compartment of the leg, the others being the flexor digitorum longus and the tibialis posterior. The tibialis posterior is the most powerful of these deep muscles. All three muscles are innervated by the tibial nerve which comprises half of the sciatic nerve.
The extensor hallucis brevis is a muscle on the top of the foot that helps to extend the big toe.
The deep fibular nerve begins at the bifurcation of the common fibular nerve between the fibula and upper part of the fibularis longus, passes infero-medially, deep to the extensor digitorum longus, to the anterior surface of the interosseous membrane, and comes into relation with the anterior tibial artery above the middle of the leg; it then descends with the artery to the front of the ankle-joint, where it divides into a lateral and a medial terminal branch.
In humans, the sole of the foot is anatomically referred to as the plantar aspect.
The interphalangeal joints of the foot are the joints between the phalanx bones of the toes in the feet.
Primitive reflexes are reflex actions originating in the central nervous system that are exhibited by normal infants, but not neurologically intact adults, in response to particular stimuli. These reflexes are suppressed by the development of the frontal lobes as a child transitions normally into child development. These primitive reflexes are also called infantile, infant or newborn reflexes.
Hoffmann's reflex is a neurological examination finding elicited by a reflex test which can help verify the presence or absence of issues arising from the corticospinal tract. It is named after neurologist Johann Hoffmann. Usually considered a pathological reflex in a clinical setting, the Hoffmann's reflex has also been used as a measure of spinal reflex processing (adaptation) in response to exercise training.
The Chaddock reflex is a diagnostic reflex similar to the Babinski reflex. Chaddock's sign is present when stroking of the lateral malleolus causes extension of the great toe, indicating damage to the corticospinal tract.
The extensor digitorum reflex is tested as part of the neurological examination to assess the sensory and motor pathways within the C6 and C7 spinal nerves. It is also known as Braunecker-Effenberg reflex, or BER.
Cornell's sign is a clinical sign in which scratching along the inner side of the extensor hallucis longus tendon elicits an extensor plantar reflex. It is found in patients with pyramidal tract lesions, and is one of a number of Babinski-like responses.
Babinski–Nageotte syndrome is an alternating brainstem syndrome. It occurs when there is damage to the dorsolateral or posterior lateral medulla oblongata, likely syphilitic in origin. Hence it is also called the alternating medulla oblongata syndrome.
