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Yawning and behavioral states in premature infants
Fiorenza Giganti1, Marie J Hayes, Manjapra R Akilesh
1Psychology Department, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
Insights
Premature infants (30-35 weeks PCA) yawn during sleep, indicating increased motor activity. Yawning in the drowse state may signal a transition to wakefulness or active sleep.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal Development
- Behavioral Neuroscience
- Sleep Science
Background:
- Premature infants in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) exhibit various sleep-wake states.
- Spontaneous yawning is a common behavior observed in infants, but its functional significance remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between spontaneous yawning and behavioral states in premature infants.
- To determine if yawning is associated with changes in motoric activation and state transitions.
Main Methods:
- Observation of low-risk premature infants (30-35 weeks PCA) in NICU home incubators.
- Videorecordings analyzed for behavioral states (quiet sleep, active sleep, wake, drowse) and contextual behaviors around yawn events.
- Sequence analysis of behavioral states preceding and following yawns.
Main Results:
- Yawning periods were associated with higher levels of motoric activation compared to non-yawn periods.
- Yawns were not observed during quiet sleep.
- Yawning in the drowse state predicted preceding state changes (often wakefulness), while non-yawning drowse states predicted subsequent state changes (wakefulness or active sleep).
Conclusions:
- Spontaneous yawning in premature infants is linked to increased behavioral arousal, irrespective of the specific sleep-wake state.
- The drowse state appears unstable, and yawning may stabilize it by preceding state transitions.
Abstract:
Low risk, premature infants between 30 to 35 weeks post-conceptual age (PCA) residing in an neonatal intensive care unit environment were observed in the home incubator for spontaneous yawning from 2400 to 0500 hr. Videorecordings were analyzed for the behavioral states of quiet sleep (QS), active sleep (AS), wake (W), and drowse (D) in 3-min epochs as well as the contextual behaviors before and after yawn events using a 1-min window. Yawning periods predicted higher levels of motoric activation than nonyawn periods. Sequence analysis of preceding and following states with or without yawns were examined for stability or change. All states with or without yawn events had state stability for the preceding and following epochs, with two exceptions: 1) D state with yawning was associated with state change in the preceding 3-min epoch (most often W), and 2) D state without yawning was associated with state change in the following epoch (W or AS). Yawns were not present in QS. The results suggest that yawning is associated with increased behavioral arousal that is not state-specific. However, yawning in D state predicts state transitions in the preceding, but not the following, epoch. It is proposed that D may be an unstable state that becomes more stable when yawning is present.