Infants born preterm demonstrate reduced task-specific exploration during the scaffolded kick-activated mobile task

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Pediatrics

Background:

• Infants born very and extremely preterm (PT) may experience altered developmental trajectories compared to full-term (FT) infants.
• Understanding early spatial exploration is crucial for assessing neurodevelopmental outcomes.
• Infant motor learning and spatial cognition are interconnected processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify and compare the spatial exploration of preterm and full-term infants in a mobile-activation task.
• To investigate differences in general and task-specific spatial exploration between PT and FT infants.
• To explore potential influences of learning and motor abilities on spatial exploration in PT infants.

Main Methods:

• 13 PT infants and 15 FT infants (from a prior study) participated.
• Spatial exploration was measured using variables like exploration volume, path, time in region of interest, and kick variances (vertical and horizontal).
• Infants learned that vertical foot movements across a virtual threshold activated a mobile.

Main Results:

• Both PT and FT infants increased general spatial exploration and time in the region of interest.
• PT infants spent less time in the task-specific region and showed greater non-task-specific horizontal kick variance than FT infants.
• Neither group altered vertical or horizontal kick variances over time.

Conclusions:

• Preterm and full-term infants demonstrate comparable general spatial exploration abilities.
• Preterm infants exhibit reduced task-specific spatial exploration compared to full-term peers.
• Further research is needed to elucidate the roles of learning and motor skills in these observed differences.