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The effect of postnatal age on the early tactile manual abilities of preterm infants
Fleur Lejeune1, Frédérique Berne-Audéoud2, Leïla Marcus2
1Child Clinical Neuropsychology Unit, University of Geneva, Switzerland.
Insights
Preterm infants show tactile shape habituation and discrimination regardless of postnatal age. However, recognizing familiar shapes after interference depends on their postnatal experience, indicating developmental changes in tactile perception.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal development
- Sensory perception
- Developmental psychology
Background:
- Preterm infants possess innate tactile abilities.
- The impact of postnatal experience on these abilities is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if postnatal age influences tactile manual habituation, discrimination, and recognition of shapes in preterm infants.
- Investigate the role of early postnatal experience in tactile sensory processing.
Main Methods:
- Prospective study involving 40 preterm infants assessed from 34 weeks post-conceptional age (PCA).
- Infants divided into low (≤10 days) and high (≥12 days) postnatal age (PNA) groups.
- Tactile shape recognition assessed by recording object holding times.
Main Results:
- All preterm infants demonstrated habituation to repeated tactile shape presentation.
- Shape discrimination was evident in both low and high PNA groups.
- Tactile recognition of familiar shapes after interference was impaired in the low PNA group but not the high PNA group.
Conclusions:
- Preterm infants at 34 weeks PCA can habituate to and discriminate shapes via touch, independent of postnatal age.
- Early postnatal experience significantly impacts the ability of preterm infants to recognize familiar shapes.
- Findings highlight the critical role of the postnatal environment in shaping tactile sensory development.
Background:
Although preterm infants possess early tactile manual abilities, the influence of the postnatal experience has not yet been systematically examined.
Aims:
To investigate whether early tactile manual habituation, discrimination and recognition (following interference) of shape in preterm infants are modified by postnatal age.
Study Design:
Prospective study.
Subjects:
Forty preterm infants were assessed from the post-conceptional age (PCA) of 34 weeks. Two groups were made up according to postnatal age (PNA): low PNA (PNA≤10 days of life) and high PNA (PNA≥12 days of life).
Outcome Measures:
An object (prism or cylinder) was presented repeatedly in the left hand, and holding times of the object were recorded during each trial.
Results:
Holding time was shorter for all preterm infants following successive presentation of the same object irrespective of postnatal age range. In the discrimination phase, the mean holding time for the novel object was longer than holding times in the last two habituation trials, in both PNA groups. Finally, the mean holding time of the familiar object presented in the recognition phase was shorter than the holding time of the novel object presented previously, but only in the low PNA group.
Conclusions:
Tactile manual habituation and discrimination of shape information is present in preterm infants at a post-conceptional age of 34 weeks, independently of postnatal age. However, tactile manual recognition of familiar shapes following interference is affected by length of postnatal experience. The significance of this last result is discussed in detail.
