Visual orientation to the human face in the premature and fullterm newborn.

Visual orientation to the human face was studied by the method of Brazelton in 15 fullterm newborns on the 4th-5th day of life and in 21 premature newborns (gestational age 27-37 weeks) tested weekly up to 40 weeks conceptional age. No evidence of visual orientation was found before 33 weeks. Performances on a par with those of fullterm newborns were not attained until 37-38 weeks on average, though in a few cases this was achieved at 35 weeks. The quality of orientation improved gradually from 32-33 weeks to 38 weeks, but with wide inter- and intra-individual variations. Noteworthy were the discontinuity and transient worsening of visual orientation of the extremely premature subjects (gestational age less than or equal to 31 weeks) in the weeks following birth. Neurological status at the time of the test, rather than pre-and perinatal risk factors, correlated positively with the quality of the visual responses. No statistically significant differences in orientation were found between premature newborns at term age and fullterm newborns.