Reflexes Mnemonic for NEET PG: Deep Tendon and Superficial Reflexes

Reflex examination questions in NEET PG rarely ask you to just name a reflex — they ask you to place it on a nerve root, or read a pattern of reflex changes and localize a lesion. Both depend on knowing the root values cold.

Deep Tendon Reflexes and Their Root Values

Reflex	Nerve root
Biceps	C5–C6
Supinator (brachioradialis)	C5–C6
Triceps	C7–C8
Knee (patellar)	L2–L4 (mainly L3–L4)
Ankle (Achilles)	S1–S2

The classic root-value mnemonic: "1, 2 — buckle my shoe; 3, 4 — kick the door; 5, 6 — pick up sticks; 7, 8 — lay them straight."

• 1, 2 (S1–S2) → buckle my shoe → ankle jerk
• 3, 4 (L3–L4) → kick the door → knee jerk
• 5, 6 (C5–C6) → pick up sticks → biceps/supinator jerk
• 7, 8 (C7–C8) → lay them straight → triceps jerk

Superficial Reflexes

Reflex	Nerve root / nerve
Corneal	Afferent: CN V (trigeminal); Efferent: CN VII (facial)
Abdominal	Upper: T7–T9; Lower: T10–T12
Cremasteric	L1–L2
Plantar (Babinski)	S1–S2

Reading the Reflex Pattern: UMN vs LMN

This is where the exam actually tests you — not the isolated root value, but what a pattern of reflex changes tells you about lesion location.

• Upper motor neuron (UMN) lesion: hyperreflexia (exaggerated deep tendon reflexes), an extensor (upgoing) plantar response — the Babinski sign — and often clonus.
• Lower motor neuron (LMN) lesion: hyporeflexia or areflexia, and a normal flexor (downgoing) plantar response — Babinski sign is absent, not present, in LMN lesions.

Reflexes are graded on a standard 0–4+ scale: 0 (absent), 1+ (diminished), 2+ (normal), 3+ (brisk/exaggerated), 4+ (very brisk, with clonus). A single reflex graded in isolation means little; the pattern across multiple reflexes, read alongside tone and power, is what localizes the lesion.

Reflex localization questions come up across Medicine, Surgery, and Physiology sections alike. Reflex’s daily TROCAR quiz mixes exactly this kind of cross-subject, pattern-recognition question into its subject-wise rounds.