title: Behavioral correlates of direct current-coupled electrographic activity in premature infants.
abstract: The co-expression of behavioral and neural events represents a situation conducive to Hebbian-type neuroplasticity and may provide a reasonable explanation for how the amount of movement during the perinatal period contributes to neuromotor development. Direct current-coupled electrographic recordings in premature infants indicate that the majority of the electrographic activity is exhibited in a slow frequency range that is either distorted or not visible using traditional recording methods. Therefore, we provide a description of the behavioral correlates of direct current-coupled electrographic recordings in six premature human infants (3 males and 3 females; 30-34 weeks). We report, in concert with prior data, that electrographic activity and movements occur in tightly coupled discrete bouts. Surprisingly, spontaneous activity transients, which are slow, high amplitude, multiband electrographic events, typically precede startles; thereby revealing a previously unknown coupling of early neural and behavioral events in humans. Taken together, the present findings open novel venues for studying and dissecting mammalian neuromotor development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Science and Engineering, Reykjavik University, Reykjavik, Iceland.
authors.forename: Haraldur
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Thorsteinsson
authors.forename: Hjörtur M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Reynisson
authors.forename: Laufey Y
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Sigurethardóttir
authors.forename: Atli
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dagbjartsson
authors.forename: Karl A E
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Karlsson
mesh_terms: D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D001519:Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology; D013216:Reflex, Startle / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors