SPONTANEOUS MOTOR ACTIVITY OF DEVELOPING HUMAN INFANTS

目前的研究表明，自发运动 在胎儿和幼儿有一个强大的循环组织， 不规则的时间范围从1-4分钟。长期目标的 研究计划已经了解CM的发展，其 潜在的机制，其功能意义的胎儿和 婴儿。 提出了五项研究来探讨CM的机制， 其功能性后果。 研究的具体目的是 研究：（M1）CM的无扰动力学。 的性质 可能的CM吸引子将在未受干扰的清醒期间进行估计 在1个月和3个月时使用实验非线性新技术 动力学 根据初步调查结果，该研究预计将揭示 CM机制中的低维混沌动力学， 这将为持续但不规则的 运动活动的波动;（M2）CM的强度和范围 吸引人。 将研究清醒CM对扰动的响应 一个月和三个月的时候。 CM吸引子的强度和范围将是 通过分析扰动轨迹的演变估计， 重构CM状态空间。 预计结果将产生更多 关于CM机制的动态稳定性的详细信息， 存在着质量上不同的CM组织模式，以及 CM状态空间上的灵敏度变化。 (F1)CM和空间 视觉注意力的分布。 CM的耦合和关注 在广告期间，将分析静态视觉环境中的元素， 1个月和3个月时的自由采食量。 注意力脱离 预期刺激与CM的特定阶段相关，基于 初步数据。 长期的注意力分配 预期刺激与CM强度和不可预测性有关， 基于注意力和混沌的功能理论;（F2）CM和 对刺激反应的调节。 外显视觉注意转移 将在1个月和3个月进行检查。 注意力 脱离接触和重新定向预计将取决于CM的阶段 在刺激开始时，这将根据 研究F1的结果。 这些数据将产生详细的信息， 在变化的环境中注意力的可中断性受到影响 （F3）CM和视觉注意的习惯化。 无扰CM 并在3个月时检查视觉注意的习惯化。 在习惯化过程中，固定持续时间预计会部分波动， 与CM的变化阶段有关。 自发恢复到 不变的刺激，以及未能恢复到刺激变化， 预期与适应后试验时的CM阶段相关 开始。 未扰动CM的光谱和动力学性质也可以 解释一些标准测量的差异， 适应/恢复 更一般地说，有几个原因需要研究 厘米 (1)作为早期神经行为组织的一个强大特性， 可能是适应性相互作用的一个重要因素， 环境 (2)造成复杂波动的机制 在CM中的活动可能是一个非常常见的，所以理解它， 会有更广泛的意义。 (3)CM提供了一个测试 动力系统理论在解释行为的效用 组织，目前是一个非常感兴趣的话题。 (4)CM是一个方面 行为组织，可以精确地研究， 早期发育，当生物体及其有效环境 都在迅速变化。

The present research program has shown that spontaneous motor activity in the fetus and young infant has a strong cyclic organization with irregular periods ranging from 1-4 min. The long-term goals of the research program have been to understand the development of CM, its underlying mechanism, and its functional significance for the fetus and infant. Five studies are proposed to investigate the mechanism of CM and its functional consequences. The specific aims of the studies are to investigate: (M1) The Unperturbed Dynamics of CM. The properties of possible CM attractors will be estimated during undisturbed awake periods at 1 and 3 months using new techniques in experimental nonlinear dynamics. Based on preliminary findings, the study is expected to reveal low dimensional chaotic dynamics in the mechanism responsible for CM, which would suggest a unified explanation of the sustained but irregular fluctuations in motor activity; (M2) The Strength and Extent of CM Attractors. The response of awake CM to perturbation will be examined at 1 an 3 months. The strength and extent of CM attractors will be estimated by analyzing the evolution of perturbed trajectories in reconstructed CM state space. The results are expected to yield more detailed information about the dynamic stability of the CM mechanism, the existence of qualitatively different modes of CM organization, and variation in sensitivity across CM state space. (F1) CM and the Spatial Distribution of Visual Attention. The coupling of CM and attention to elements in a static visual environment will be analyzed during ad libitum looking at 1 and 3 months. Attentional disengagement from stimuli is expected to be associated with specific phases of CM, based on preliminary data. The longer term distribution of attention to stimuli is expected to be linked to CM strength and unpredictability, based on functional theories of attention and chaos; (F2) CM and the Modulation of Response to a Stimulus. Shifting of overt visual attention to a new stimulus will be examined at 1 and 3 months. Attentional disengagement and re-orienting are expected to depend on the phase of CM at stimulus onset, which will be varied systematically based on the findings of Study F1. The data will yield detailed information about how the interruptibility of attention in a changing environment is influenced by CM; (F3) CM and the Habituation of Visual Attention. Unperturbed CM and the habituation of visual attention will be examined at 3 months. During habituation, fixation duration is expected to fluctuate partly in relation to the changing phase of CM. Spontaneous recovery to an unchanged stimulus, and failure to recover to a stimulus change, are expected to be related to the phase of CM when the posthabituation trials begin. Spectral and dynamic properties of unperturbed CM may also explain some of the variance in standard measures of habituation/recovery. More generally, there are several reasons to study CM. (1) As a robust property of early neurobehavioral organization, it is likely to be an important factor in adaptive interactions with the environment. (2) The mechanism responsible for the complex fluctuations of activity in CM may be a very common one, so that understanding it would have broader significance. (3) CM provides an opportunity to test the utility of dynamical systems theory in explaining behavioral organization, currently a topic of great interest. (4) CM is an aspect of behavioral organization which can be studied with precision during early development when the organism and its effective environment are both changing rapidly.