Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom.
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Obstetric Wing, University College London Hospitals, London WC1E 6DB, United Kingdom.
Clin Neurophysiol. 2019 Dec;130(12):2216-2221. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2019.09.008. Epub 2019 Oct 15.
Involuntary isolated body movements are prominent in pre-term and full-term infants. Proprioceptive and tactile afferent feedback following limb muscle contractions is associated with somatotopic EEG responses. Involuntary contractions of respiratory muscles, primarily the diaphragm - hiccups - are also frequent throughout the human perinatal period during active behavioural states. Here we tested whether diaphragm contraction provides afferent input to the developing brain, as following limb muscle contraction.
In 13 infants on the neonatal ward (30-42 weeks corrected gestational age), we analysed EEG activity (18-electrode recordings in six subjects; 17-electrode recordings in five subjects; 16-electrode recordings in two subjects), time-locked to diaphragm contractions (n = 1316) recorded with a movement transducer affixed to the trunk.
All bouts of hiccups occurred during wakefulness or active sleep. Each diaphragm contraction evoked two initial event-related potentials with negativity predominantly across the central region, and a third event-related potential with positivity maximal across the central region.
Involuntary contraction of the diaphragm can be encoded by the brain from as early as ten weeks prior to the average time of birth.
Hiccups - frequently observed in neonates - can provide afferent input to developing sensory cortices in pre-term and full-term infants.
非自主孤立的身体运动在早产儿和足月儿中很明显。肢体肌肉收缩后的本体感觉和触觉传入反馈与躯体感觉 EEG 反应有关。呼吸肌的非自主收缩，主要是膈肌 - 呃逆 - 在人类围产期的活跃行为状态期间也很频繁。在这里，我们测试了膈肌收缩是否像肢体肌肉收缩一样为发育中的大脑提供传入输入。
在新生儿病房的 13 名婴儿（校正胎龄 30-42 周）中，我们分析了与附着在躯干上的运动传感器记录的膈肌收缩（n=1316）时间锁定的 EEG 活动（6 名受试者的 18 电极记录；5 名受试者的 17 电极记录；2 名受试者的 16 电极记录）。
所有呃逆发作均发生在觉醒或活跃睡眠期间。每次膈肌收缩都会引起两个初始事件相关电位，主要在中央区域出现负性，第三个事件相关电位在中央区域出现正性。
早在出生平均时间前 10 周，大脑就可以对膈肌的非自主收缩进行编码。
呃逆 - 在新生儿中经常观察到 - 可以为早产儿和足月儿发育中的感觉皮层提供传入输入。
