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Development of prospective control of catching moving objects in preterm at-risk infants
A L van der Meer1, F R van der Weel, D N Lee
1Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, UK.
Insights
Infants use visual cues to predict object motion, but neurologically at-risk infants show delays in visually guided reaching. Some at-risk infants struggle with timing, impacting their ability to catch fast-moving objects.
Area of Science:
- Developmental neuroscience
- Infant motor control
- Visual perception
Background:
- Understanding predictive visual-motor control in infants is crucial for identifying developmental delays.
- Neurologically at-risk infants, often due to low birthweight and preterm birth, may exhibit altered developmental trajectories.
Purpose of the Study:
- To longitudinally assess the development of predictive visual-motor skills in healthy and at-risk infants.
- To examine how infants use visual information to anticipate and intercept moving objects.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal assessment of reaching behavior in infants aged 20-48 weeks.
- Object-reaching tasks with visual occlusion to test predictive abilities.
- Comparison between healthy term infants and neurologically at-risk infants.
Main Results:
- Infants demonstrated anticipatory gaze, but reaching onset and prospective control varied significantly between groups.
- Some at-risk infants based actions on distance rather than time, impairing performance with faster objects.
- Poorer anticipation correlated with later cerebral palsy diagnosis in two at-risk infants.
Conclusions:
- Development of predictive visual-motor control is delayed in at-risk infants.
- Timing-based vs. distance-based control strategies may differentiate developmental pathways.
- Early predictive reaching deficits could be an indicator of later neurological conditions like cerebral palsy.
Abstract:
Healthy term infants and infants classified as neurologically at-risk because of low birthweight and preterm birth were tested longitudinally between 20 and 48 weeks on the ability to use visual information predictively. Reaching for an object moving at different speeds was assessed; the object was occluded from view by a screen during the last part of its approach. At each infant's first reaching session, gaze anticipated the reappearance of the moving toy; however, onset of reaching and prospective control of gaze and hand varied considerably between the normal and at-risk groups. In addition, some at-risk infants geared their actions not to the time but to the distance that the toy was from the catching place, causing problems with faster-moving toys. The two children who anticipated least well were the only two of the at-risk group who were later diagnosed as having cerebral palsy.
