2025

Publications

G. Sullivan, A. J. Quigley, S. Choi, R. Teed, M. Blesa Cabez, K. Vaher, A Corrigan, D Stoye, M Thrippleton, M Bastin, J Boardman Brain 3T magnetic resonance imaging in neonates: features and incidental findings from a research cohort enriched for preterm birth DOI: 10.1136/archdischild-2024-326960

•          What background information would someone who is completely unfamiliar with your field need to know to understand the findings in your paper? (suggested word limit: 150 words)

•          What exact research question did you set out to answer and why? (suggested word limit: 75 words)

•          What are the most important findings of your paper? (suggested word limit: 100 words)

•          Who might eventually benefit from the findings of your study, and what would need to be done before we could achieve these benefits? (suggested word limit: 75 words)

Background information

Babies born prematurely, before 37 weeks of gestation, may experience difficulties with motor coordination, and social and emotional adjustment. 

When studying movement and behaviour in natural environments or in laboratory observations, researchers tend to focus on the average of a movement quality (e.g., kinematic acceleration) or the amount of a type of behaviour. 

There have been advances in computational methods that quantify motor kinematic dynamics, in other words patterns of change from one moment to the next. One such measure is entropy, which measures how complex a signal is. Similar methods have been applied to behavioural data, although these are still relatively novel.

Previous work suggest that entropy is sensitive to context and motor development, and that lower entropy may potentially capture stereotypical movements or generic developmental risks. In this proof-of-concept study, we use computational dynamic measures to investigate movement and behaviour in contexts where infants respond to different levels of social interaction and emotional stress. 

Research questions

Do motor kinematic dynamics and behavioural dynamics differ amongst babies born prematurely and babies born at full-term?

How does context (differing in social interaction and stress levels) affect these motor and behavioural markers?

Findings

Motor kinematic dynamics were sensitive to social interactive and emotional demands in both groups of babies. 

We also found greater left ankle and torso entropy amongst babies born prematurely compared to babies born at full term. This pattern of difference potentially reflects differences in motor development and cerebral lateralisation in babies born prematurely, rather than an indication of stereotypical movements or being at developmental risk.

We did not find differences between groups or between contexts, when analysing the behavioural dynamics.

Conclusions