Dumont Victoria, Bulla Jan, Bessot Nicolas, Gonidec Julie, Zabalia Marc, Guillois Bernard, Roche-Labarbe Nadège
Normandie University, UNICAEN, EA7452, Caen, France.
Department of Mathematics, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Dev Psychobiol. 2017 Jul;59(5):590-602. doi: 10.1002/dev.21526.
Preterm infants frequently develop atypical sensory profiles, the tactile modality being particularly affected. However, there is a lack of recent investigation of neonatal tactile perception in a passive context, especially in preterms who are particularly exposed to this tactile stimuli. Our aims were to provide evidence of orienting responses (behavioral modifications directing subject's attention towards stimuli) and habituation to passive tactile stimuli in preterm neonates, to explore their ability to perceive spatial and temporal aspects of the stimulus, and to evaluate the effect of clinical factors on these abilities. We included 61 preterm neonates, born between 32 and 34 weeks of gestational age. At 35 weeks of corrected gestational age, we measured orienting responses (forearm, hand, and fingers movements) during vibrotactile stimulation of their hand and forearm; during a habituation and dishabituation paradigm, the dishabituation being either a location change or a pause in the stimulation sequence. Preterm newborns displayed a manual orienting response to vibrotactile stimuli which significantly decreased when the stimulus was repeated, regardless of the stimulated location on the limb. Habituation was delayed in subjects born at a younger gestational age, smaller birth weight, and having experienced more painful care procedures. Preterm neonates perceived changes in stimulus location and interstimulus time interval. Our findings provide insights on several aspects of the perception of repeated tactile stimuli by preterm neonates, and the first evidence of the early development of temporal processing abilities in the tactile modality. Future work will investigate the links between this ability and neurodevelopmental disorders.
早产儿经常会出现非典型的感觉特征，触觉模式受到的影响尤为明显。然而，目前缺乏对新生儿在被动情境下触觉感知的最新研究，尤其是在特别容易受到这种触觉刺激的早产儿中。我们的目的是提供证据，证明早产儿对被动触觉刺激的定向反应（将受试者的注意力引向刺激的行为改变）和习惯化，探索他们感知刺激的空间和时间方面的能力，并评估临床因素对这些能力的影响。我们纳入了61名胎龄在32至34周之间出生的早产儿。在矫正胎龄35周时，我们测量了在对手和前臂进行振动触觉刺激期间的定向反应（前臂、手和手指的运动）；在一个习惯化和去习惯化范式中，去习惯化要么是刺激位置的改变，要么是刺激序列中的暂停。早产新生儿对振动触觉刺激表现出手动定向反应，当刺激重复时，这种反应会显著降低，无论肢体上的刺激位置如何。在胎龄较小、出生体重较低且经历过更多痛苦护理程序的受试者中，习惯化延迟。早产新生儿能够感知刺激位置和刺激间隔时间的变化。我们的研究结果为早产儿对重复触觉刺激的感知的几个方面提供了见解，并且首次证明了触觉模式中时间处理能力的早期发展。未来的工作将研究这种能力与神经发育障碍之间的联系。
