Activity states in premature and term infants

Abstract

Generally, studies which have compared full term infants shortly after birth with prematurely born infants tested at the date of their expected birth (i.e., 40 weeks conceptional age) have stressed the similarities rather than any differences which have appeared in the data. Nonetheless, numerous differences have been noted, and the present study documented an additional discrepancy in function between full term and premature infants at 40 weeks conceptional age as well as maturational changes in state responsivity during the premature period.Premature infants were given repeated neurological examinations at 31-33, 34-36, and 3842 weeks conceptional age. Full term infants were tested at 38-42 weeks conceptional age. Included in the scoring of the examination were 37 measures of state, designed to assess the infant's responsivity to the increasingly stressful items of the neurological examination. The younger prematures were more often judged to be asleep and had lower scores throughout the examination when compared to the 38-42 week infants. Crying occurred significantly more often with increasing age. In addition, the full term infants had significantly more crying scores than the prematures of the same conceptional age.Innumerable investigators have mapped the development of the nervous system in the premature infant. Their measures have included not only behavioral and neurological examinations

Neurological organization and visual fixation in infants at 40 weeks conceptional age

“…A disparity may occur because pre-term extrauterine life can have a different effect on the developing organism than intrauterine conditions. This experience may have differential impact on different areas of development and may cause response patterns that are inconsistent (Michaelis, Parmelee, Stern, & Haber 1973). Prematures at their term date show instances of both mature and immature functioning, relative to full terms, in regard to arousal and neuro-muscular functioning (Chappell, Boismier, & Meier, 1973;Dreyfus-Brisac, 1970;Parmelee, Schulte, Akiyama, Werner, Schultz, &Stern, 1968;Sainte-Anne Dargassies, 1966).…”

Unobtrusive sleep state measurements in preterm infants – A review

“…AS: The eyes are closed (5,40,41) or slightly opening and closing (22). They might open during REM in AS (41).…”

“…The scoring parameters of both methods can be found in the corresponding publications (16). There are three ways to perform classification using the two methods: the use of PSG methods alone (1,(17)(18)(19)(20), the use of behavioural methods alone (13,14,21,22) and the use of both methods in combination (4,11,16,(23)(24)(25). However, sleep/wake states in EEG or PSG of preterm infants are typically scored manually.…”

Wakefulness and visual responsiveness of low medical risk preterms

“…The relationship between wakefulness and visual responsiveness in preterms, however, has not been studied directly. A few studies indicate that preterms are more wakeful but less visually responsive than term infant: One study shows that preterms undergoing a neurological exam are awake more frequently than full-term infants (Michaelis, Parmelee, Stern & Haber, 1973) and many studies (with the exception of a few, e.g., Dubowitz, Dubowitz & Morante, 1980;Miranda, 1970), show that preterms are less visually responsive than term infants (Caron & Caron, 1981;Katona & Berenyi, 1974;Kurtzberg, Vaughan, Daum, Grellong, Albin & Rotkin, 1979;Parmelee, 1975;Petterson, Yonas & Fisch, 1980;Rose, Gottfried & Bridger, 1979;Sigman & Parmelee, 1974;Sigman, Kopp, Littman & Parmelee, 1977). None of these studies measured wakefulness and visual responsiveness in the same individuals; thus, there is no direct evidence that the relationship between wakefulness and visual responsiveness is different in preterms and full terms.…”