Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Fetal handedness and head position preference: a developmental study.

J I de Vries1, R H Wimmers, I A Ververs

  • 1Institute for Fundamental and Clinical Human Movement Sciences and Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Hospital Vrije Universiteit, de Boelelaan 1117, 1081 HV Amsterdam The Netherlands. jiv@devries@vumc.nl

Developmental Psychobiology
|December 18, 2001
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

HLA-E and NKG2A Mediate Resistance to BCG Immunotherapy in Non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2024
Same author

Every maternal near-miss counts: Need for a national audit in South Africa? A mixed-methods study.

South African medical journal = Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir geneeskunde·2022
Same author

2021 Canadian Surgery Forum: Virtual, online Sept. 21-24, 2021.

Canadian journal of surgery. Journal canadien de chirurgie·2022
Same author

Development of Giant Motor Axons and Neural Control of Escape Responses in Squid Embryos and Hatchlings.

The Biological bulletin·2018
Same author

Fetal blood sampling in addition to intrapartum ST-analysis of the fetal electrocardiogram: evaluation of the recommendations in the Dutch STAN® trial.

BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology·2011
Same author

The effect of posture on early reaching movements.

Journal of motor behavior·2009

Fetal development shows hand-head contacts are mostly unimanual, but a bimanual preference emerges at 36 weeks. No consistent link between hand contact and head position was found.

Area of Science:

  • Fetal Development
  • Neuroscience
  • Human Embryology

Background:

  • Understanding fetal motor development is crucial for identifying potential neurological or developmental abnormalities.
  • Previous research has yielded conflicting results regarding the relationship between fetal hand movements and head positioning.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the developmental trajectory of hand-head contacts in healthy fetuses.
  • To determine if hand-head contacts exhibit a lateralized preference or correlate with head position during gestation.

Main Methods:

  • Serial ultrasound recordings were conducted on 10 healthy fetuses across a gestational age range of 12 to 38 weeks.
  • Hand-head contacts were categorized as unimanual (right or left hand) or bimanual.
  • The association between contact type and preferential head position was analyzed at different gestational ages.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • A predominant unimanual hand-head contact bias was observed throughout most of gestation, except at 36 weeks, where a bimanual bias was noted.
  • No consistent lateralized preference for unimanual contacts or a stable relationship between hand contact and head position was established.
  • Evidence did not support the co-development of hand contact and head position into a preferred ipsilateral synergy.

Conclusions:

  • Fetal hand-head contact patterns are dynamic, with a notable shift towards bimanual contact around 36 weeks of gestation.
  • The developing fetus does not appear to establish a consistent ipsilateral synergy between hand contact and head position.
  • These findings contribute to the ongoing debate on fetal motor control and its relationship with head orientation.