Clinical features of spasticity

Spasticity is one of the major component of the upper motor neuron syndrome. It may arise in patients suffering from a multitude of lesions which include the sensori-motor cortical area and its descending tracts, centers in the brain stem and their descending pathways, and the spinal cord itself (Wiesendanger 1985). Hyperexcitability of the stretch-reflex continues to be considered as the basic phenomenon causing the increase in muscle tone, in addition to the pathological proprioceptive reflexes.