The Motor response component assesses which states?

• A. Command following, pain localization, withdrawal, posturing, or no response
• B. Eye opening response
• C. Verbal response
• D. Posture and motor behavior

Answer: (A)

The motor response part evaluates the best movement the patient can make in response to a command or to a painful stimulus, capturing a spectrum from purposeful actions to no movement. The states described—command following, pain localization, withdrawal from pain, abnormal posturing, or no response—cover the full range of motor responses used in this assessment. This is different from eye opening, which is the eye-opening component, and from verbal response, which is the verbal component. Describing it as “posture and motor behavior” is too broad; the motor scale specifically emphasizes the graded responses to stimuli, including both purposeful actions and reflexive posturing, as part of the same motor domain.