Emergence of arm reaching behavior and lateralization of motor control in infancy

项目摘要 理解婴儿如何从自发的运动学习到目标导向的精致运动是至关重要的 运动技能。婴幼儿学习是早期干预计划的重点，需要及早有效 干预是很棒的。直到我们了解发展的机制以及是什么促进或抑制了 如果婴儿学习成功，我们就不能设计出最佳的早期干预措施。我们的具体目标是纵向 研究婴儿体验(婴儿和环境因素)和潜在的神经基础 (脑电)随着婴儿学习伸臂，这是一种早期的基础运动技能。 目前的理论表明，婴儿通过重复的知觉-行动过程学习，体验 错误是婴幼儿学习成功的关键机制。因此，目标1将纵向测量错误率 跨越了达达的出现和精致。在目标1中，我们将确定错误率之间的关系 以及触达技能的发展。我们假设婴儿会表现出很高的错误率 (错误/尝试)接近开始时，随着技能的提高而减少，支持这样的想法 错误是学习发生的关键经验。目标2将侧重于个别婴儿和环境 预测发病年龄的因素。在目标2中，我们将确定与以下方面相关的婴儿和环境因素 达到发病年龄。婴儿的因素是日常运动经验(数量和类型(单侧或双侧) 手臂运动经验)和认知发展状况。环境因素是母体的水平 教育、照顾者与婴儿互动的质量、营养和睡眠。我们假设这些因素是 与观察到的婴儿开始达到的年龄有关，我们将确定 不同年龄段婴儿触觉的相关性和特征。结果将确定以下目标 最有可能成功的干预措施。Aim 3将使用EEG来确定大脑功能是如何变化的 随着伸展从一种不稳定的技巧到一种成功的、偏侧的(通常是右臂偏爱)动作的精炼。 通过使用EEG，我们可以在家里收集休息状态和手臂运动时的数据。在《目标3》中我们 将确定同时进行的大脑活动的模式，以区分早期的自发手臂运动 在具有典型发育的婴儿中尝试伸展和熟练伸展。根据我们的试点数据，我们 假设额叶-顶叶连通性增加，大脑半球间连通性减少， 脑电活动从双侧向单侧转变，因为触达变得更具目标针对性、成功率和侧向性。 目标1-3侧重于具有典型发育的婴儿；探索性目标4将我们的发现与人群进行对比 可能表现出学习障碍：婴儿脑性瘫痪的风险很高。在探索性目标4中，我们将 描述在自发的手臂运动、早期触觉尝试和 熟练适用于脑性瘫痪的高危婴儿。我们的结果将决定最相关的因素 与婴儿在学习伸展时完善其大脑功能和神经运动控制的能力有关。

Project Summary It is crucial to understand how infants learn to progress from spontaneous movements into goal-directed, refined motor skills. Infant learning is the focus of early intervention programs, and the need for effective early intervention is great. Until we understand the mechanisms of development and what promotes or inhibits successful infant learning, we cannot design optimal early intervention. Our specific objective is to longitudinally study infant experience (infant and environmental factors) and underlying neural substrates (electroencephalography (EEG)) as infants learn arm reaching, an early, foundational motor skill. Current theories suggest that infants learn through a repeated perception-action process and that experiencing error is the key mechanism for successful infant learning. Thus, Aim 1 will measure error rate longitudinally across the emergence and refinement of reaching. In Aim 1 we will determine the relationship between error rate and the development of reaching skill. We hypothesize that infants will demonstrate a high error rate (errors/attempts) near reaching onset that decreases as they refine the skill, supporting the idea that making errors is a key experience in order for learning to occur. Aim 2 will focus on individual infant and environmental factors that predict age of onset of reaching. In Aim 2 we will identify infant and environmental factors related to the age of reaching onset. Infant factors are motor experience (amount and type (unilateral or bilateral) of daily arm movement experience) and cognitive development status. Environmental factors are level of maternal education, quality of caregiver-infant interactions, nutrition, and sleep. We hypothesize that these factors are related to the age at which infants are observed to begin to reach, and we will determine the strength of the associations and characteristics of infants reaching at different ages. The results will identify targets for intervention that are most likely to be successful. Aim 3 will use EEG to determine how brain function changes as reaching is refined from an unstable skill to a successful, lateralized (typically right arm preference) movement. Using EEG will allow us to collect data in the home, both resting state and during arm movements. In Aim 3 we will identify patterns of concurrent brain activity that differentiate between spontaneous arm movements, early reaching attempts, and skilled reaches in infants with typical development. Based on our pilot data, we hypothesize that frontal-parietal connectivity increases, interhemispheric connectivity decreases, and sources of EEG activity shift from bilateral to unilateral as reaches become more goal directed, successful, and lateralized. Aims 1–3 focus on infants with typical development; exploratory Aim 4 contrasts our findings with a population likely to show impairment in learning to reach: infants at high risk for cerebral palsy. In exploratory Aim 4 we will describe patterns of concurrent brain activity during spontaneous arm movements, early reaching attempts, and skilled reaches in infants at high risk for cerebral palsy. Our results will determine the most relevant factors related to an infant’s ability to refine his brain function and neuromotor control as he learns to reach.