The development of upper limb movements: from fetal to post-natal life
Stefania Zoia1, Laura Blason, Giuseppina D'Ottavio
1Department of Pediatrics, Institute for Maternal and Child Health IRCCS "Burlo Garofolo", Trieste, Italy.
Insights
Infant upper limb movement patterns resemble fetal movements initially but diverge by three months. Motor planning for hand-to-mouth and reaching external objects differs after four months post-birth.
Area of Science:
- Developmental neuroscience
- Motor control
- Human kinematics
Background:
- Investigating the developmental trajectory of upper limb movement kinematics from fetal to postnatal stages.
- Examining changes in hand-to-mouth and hand-to-eye movements across prenatal and early postnatal periods.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze kinematic organization of upper limb movements during fetal and postnatal development.
- To compare hand-to-mouth, hand-to-eye, and reaching-to-object movements across different life stages.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study employing off-line kinematical techniques.
- Comparison of movement kinematics in the same individuals from 14 to 22 weeks gestation and 1 to 12 months post-birth.
- Analysis of hand-to-mouth and hand-to-object movements post-four months of age.
Main Results:
- Similar kinematic organization for hand-to-mouth/eye movements observed in fetuses (22 weeks) and one-month-old infants.
- Loss of differential motor planning based on target by two to three months post-birth.
- Distinct kinematic differences in deceleration phases between hand-to-mouth and reaching-to-object movements after four months.
Conclusions:
- The transition from intrauterine to extra-uterine environments significantly influences motor planning.
- Novel insights into the developmental divergence of upper extremity movements directed towards self versus external targets.
- Understanding the developmental basis of motor control for different movement types.
Background:
The aim of this longitudinal study was to investigate how the kinematic organization of upper limb movements changes from fetal to post-natal life. By means of off-line kinematical techniques we compared the kinematics of hand-to-mouth and hand-to-eye movements, in the same individuals, during prenatal life and early postnatal life, as well as the kinematics of hand-to-mouth and reaching-toward-object movements in the later age periods.
Methodology/Principal Findings:
Movements recorded at the 14(th), 18(th) and 22(nd) week of gestation were compared with similar movements recorded in an ecological context at 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, and 12 months after birth. The results indicate a similar kinematic organization depending on movement type (i.e., eye, mouth) for the infants at one month and for the fetuses at 22 weeks of gestation. At two and three months such differential motor planning depending on target is lost and no statistical differences emerge. Hand to eye movements were no longer observed after the fourth month of life, therefore we compared kinematics for hand to mouth with hand to object movements. Results of these analyses revealed differences in the performance of hand to mouth and reaching to object movements in the length of the deceleration phase of the movement, depending on target.
Conclusion/Significance:
Data are discussed in terms of how the passage from intrauterine to extra-uterine environments modifies motor planning. These results provide novel evidence of how different types of upper extremity movements, those directed towards one's own face and those directed to external objects, develop.
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