[Developmental changes in electrically elicited blink reflex in infancy and childhood].

Developmental changes in electrically elicited blink reflex (BR) in 118 normal subjects, aged from 32 weeks of conceptional age to 14 years of age. During the waking state, R1 and bilateral R2 responses were always elicited. The latency of R1 shortened rapidly during the neonatal period, reaching the adult value at 3 months of age. The latency of R2 and contralateral R2 (CR2), which were elicited synchronously after 3 years of age, shortened slowly during childhood and reached the adult value at 6 years of age. The conduction indexes of R1, R2 and CR2, which were calculated as head circumference/latency (m/sec), increased rapidly during the neonatal period and reached the adult values at 6 years of age. The influence of NREM sleep on BR in neonates was different from those in infants and children. While BR of neonates in NREM sleep showed similar to that seen in wakefulness, BR of infants and children after one month of age was suppressed during NREM sleep. BR pattern in NREM sleep in infants and children after 6 months of age was similar to that seen in adults.