The presence of the Babinski sign can identify disease of the spinal cord and brain in adults, and also exists as a primitive reflex in infants.

[1] While first described in the medical literature by Babinski in 1896,[2] the reflex has been identified in art at least as early as Botticelli's Virgin and Child with an Angel, painted in the mid-15th century.

Many reflex hammers taper at the end of the handle to a point which was used for testing the plantar response in the past; due to the tightening of infection control regulation this is no longer recommended.

The Babinski sign can indicate upper motor neuron lesion constituting damage to the corticospinal tract.

Occasionally, a pathological plantar reflex is the first and only indication of a serious disease process and a clearly abnormal plantar reflex often prompts detailed neurological investigations, including CT scanning of the brain or MRI of the spine, as well as lumbar puncture for the study of cerebrospinal fluid.