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

项目概要 了解婴儿如何学习从自发运动发展为目标导向的、精细的运动是至关重要的。 运动技能。婴儿学习是早期干预计划的重点，需要有效的早期干预 干预是伟大的。直到我们了解发展机制以及促进或抑制的因素 成功的婴儿学习，我们无法设计最佳的早期干预。我们的具体目标是纵向 研究婴儿经历（婴儿和环境因素）和潜在的神经基质 （脑电图（EEG））当婴儿学习手臂伸展时，这是一种早期的基础运动技能。 目前的理论表明，婴儿通过重复的感知-行动过程来学习，并且体验 错误是婴儿成功学习的关键机制。因此，目标 1 将纵向测量错误率 跨越到达的出现和细化。在目标 1 中，我们将确定错误率之间的关系 以及伸手技能的发展。我们假设婴儿会表现出很高的错误率 （错误/尝试）接近开始，随着他们改进技能而减少，支持这样的想法： 错误是学习发生的关键经历。目标 2 将重点关注婴儿个体和环境 预测到达开始年龄的因素。在目标 2 中，我们将确定与以下因素相关的婴儿和环境因素： 达到发病年龄。婴儿因素是运动经验（每日运动的数量和类型（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，我们将确定这种影响的强度 不同年龄婴儿的关联和特征。结果将确定目标 最有可能成功的干预措施。目标 3 将使用脑电图来确定大脑功能如何变化 因为伸手动作从不稳定的技能改进为成功的侧向（通常是右臂偏好）运动。 使用脑电图将使我们能够在家中收集静息状态和手臂运动期间的数据。在目标 3 中，我们 将识别并发大脑活动的模式，以区分自发的手臂运动，早期 具有典型发育的婴儿的达到尝试和熟练达到。根据我们的试点数据，我们 假设额叶-顶叶连通性增加，半球间连通性减少，并且 随着目标变得更加定向、成功和偏侧化，脑电图活动从双侧转向单侧。 目标 1-3 重点关注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 可能表现出学习接触障碍：脑瘫高危婴儿。在探索性目标 4 中，我们将 描述自发手臂运动、早期伸手尝试期间并发大脑活动的模式，以及 熟练地接触脑瘫高危婴儿。我们的结果将决定最相关的因素 与婴儿学习伸手时改善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.