Neonatal stepping in relation to terrestrial optic flow.
This experiment examined whether newborn stepping, a primitive form of bipedal locomotion, could be modulated by optical flow. Forty-eight 3-day-old infants were exposed to optical flows that were projected onto a horizontal surface above which the infants were suspended. Significantly more air steps were elicited by exposure to a terrestrial optical flow specifying forward translation than by a rotating optical flow or a static optical pattern. Thus, a rudimentary coupling between optical flow and stepping is present at birth, suggesting a precocious capacity in the newborn to perceive and utilize visual information specifying self-motion. The findings may help the early diagnosis of infants with visual or visual-motor deficits and the development of visually based interventions for disabled infants.
Barbu-Roth
Marianne
M
Laboratoire Psychologie de la Perception, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France. marianne.barburoth@parisdescartes.fr
Anderson
David I
DI
Desprès
Adeline
A
Provasi
Joëlle
J
Cabrol
Dominique
D
Campos
Joseph J
JJ
D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn / Q000523:psychology*; D008124:Locomotion; D008297:Male; D009039:Motion Perception; D009043:Motor Activity; D015997:Neonatal Screening; D009949:Orientation; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D014110:Touch