Which posturing indicates abnormal flexion due to brain injury?

• A. Decorticate Posturing
• B. Decerebrate Posturing
• C. Aura
• D. Epidural Hematoma

Answer: (A)

Abnormal flexion posturing signals damage to motor pathways above the red nucleus. In decorticate posturing, the arms flex and come toward the chest with wrists flexed, while the legs may extend. This pattern arises from injury to cortical or diencephalic structures, indicating disruption of pathways above the brainstem. Decerebrate posturing, by contrast, shows abnormal extension and points to brainstem damage below the red nucleus and generally carries a worse prognosis. Aura is a sensory phenomenon that can precede seizures or migraines, and an epidural hematoma is a bleed between the skull and dura; neither describes a posture pattern. So the described abnormal flexion aligns with decorticate posturing due to brain injury.