Emergence and retention of learning in early fetal development

Third Trimester Fetuses Demonstrate Priming, a Form of Implicit Memory, In Utero

Research examinations of changes in fetal heart rate (HR) to operationalize fetal memory suggests that human memory capacities emerge in utero. However, there is little evidence for a form of implicit memory or priming. The present aim was to determine if priming is evident in utero. Fetal HR, maternal HR and maternal respiratory rate (RR) were examined in 105 women during the third trimester of pregnancy. Women experienced two counterbalanced laboratory tasks, the Stroop task and the paced breathing task, and their cardiorespiratory activity functioned as a stimulus for fetuses. Repeated measures ANOVAs revealed maternal HR increased during the Stroop task but only when the Stroop task was presented first (89.64 bpm to 92.39 bpm) (p = 0.04). Maternal RR increased during the Stroop task, regardless of task order (17.72 bpm to 21.11 bpm; 18.50 bpm to 22.60 bpm) (p < 0.01). Fetal HR increased during the paced breathing task, but only when it followed maternal exposure to the Stroop task (141.13 bpm to 143.97 bpm) (p < 0.01). Fetuses registered maternal HR and RR reactivity to the Stroop task, which influenced their response during maternal engagement with a related task, suggesting priming. Further study of fetal memory may suggest another pathway by which prenatal exposures impact future development.

Development of Sensory Processing in Premature Infants and Implications for Evidence-Based Music Therapy in the NICU

The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the development of sensory processing in premature infants with implications for music therapists providing evidence-based care in a NICU. An overview of sensory processing and sensory processing disorders in premature infants is included, with specific emphasis on development of sensory systems of premature infants. Implications for developmentally appropriate music as therapy for premature infants are identified. Evidence-based NICU-MT can be combined with nursing care to reduce the risks of sensory processing disorder for the developing premature infant.

The Effect of Music Intervention on Fetal Education via Doppler Fetal Monitor

This study focused on the effects of music intervention on fetal education in pregnant women. The fetal heart rate of the fetus at 30–38 weeks of gestational age was monitored by an ultrasound Doppler fetal monitor, and differences in the frequency of fetal movement responses to familiar and unfamiliar music courses were recorded and analyzed. The analysis results showed that the fetuses had less fetal movement to fixed singing activities, with a mean of 0.7 and a standard deviation of 0.79. On the contrary, the fetuses had significant fetal movement responses to irregular singing, with a mean of 1.73 and a standard deviation of 1.37. The results showed that the fetus receives external sounds through hearing, and a pregnant woman singing fixed music to her fetus can stabilize the frequency of fetal movement, promote the health of herself and the fetus, and establish maternal-fetal bonding.

The Interprocessual-Self Theory in Support of Human Neuroscience Studies

Rather than occurring abstractly (autonomously), ethical growth occurs in interpersonal relationships (IRs). It requires optimally functioning cognitive processes [attention, working memory (WM), episodic/autobiographical memory (AM), inhibition, flexibility, among others], emotional processes (physical contact, motivation, and empathy), processes surrounding ethical, intimacy, and identity issues, and other psychological processes (self-knowledge, integration, and the capacity for agency). Without intending to be reductionist, we believe that these aspects are essential for optimally engaging in IRs and for the personal constitution. While they are all integrated into our daily life, in research and academic work, it is hard to see how they are integrated. Thus, we need better theoretical frameworks for studying them. That study and integration thereof are undertaken differently depending on different views of what it means to live as a human being. We rely on neuroscientific data to support the chosen theory to offer knowledge to understand human beings and interpersonal relational growth. We should of course note that to describe what makes up the uniqueness of being, acting, and growing as a human person involves something much more profound which requires too, a methodology that opens the way for a theory of the person that responds to the concerns of philosophy and philosophical anthropology from many disciplines and methods (Orón Semper, 2015; Polo, 2015), but this is outside the scope of this study. With these in mind, this article aims to introduce a new explanatory framework, called the Interprocessual-self (IPS), for the neuroscientific findings that allow for a holistic consideration of the previously mentioned processes. Contributing to the knowledge of personal growth and avoiding a reductionist view, we first offer a general description of the research that supports the interrelation between personal virtue in IRs and relevant cognitive, emotional, and ethic-moral processes. This reveals how relationships allow people to relate ethically and grow as persons. We include conceptualizations and descriptions of their neural bases. Secondly, with the IPS model, we explore neuroscientific findings regarding self-knowledge, integration, and agency, all psychological processes that stimulate inner exploration of the self concerning the other. We find that these fundamental conditions can be understood from IPS theory. Finally, we explore situations that involve the integration of two levels, namely the interpersonal one and the social contexts of relationships.

Mastery of Echoics in Chinese Establishes Bidirectional Naming in Chinese for Preschoolers with Naming in English

The onset of the verbal behavior developmental cusp of bidirectional naming (BiN) in a second language makes it possible for monolingual English-speaking children to learn names of things in a second language incidentally. We conducted 2 experiments to identify why monolingual English-speaking children cannot demonstrate BiN in another language when they demonstrated BiN in their native language. In Experiment I, using a group design (n = 32 preschoolers), we identified Chinese speech sounds that monolingual English-speaking children with BiN in English for familiar stimuli could not echo. In Experiment II, using a multiple-probe design, we investigated if mastery of echoics with the speech sounds identified in Experiment I would result in BiN in Chinese with 6 participants from Experiment I. The dependent variable was untaught responses to the probe stimuli presented following the naming experience based on the echoic stimuli from Experiment I. The results showed that echoic training was functionally related to the establishment of BiN in the second language. It appeared that the emission of accurate echoics might be the key to second-language BiN and that emergent correspondence between producing and hearing that occurs with the mastery of the echoic responding may be the source of reinforcement.

Impact of prematurity on neurodevelopment

The consequences of prematurity on brain functional development are numerous and diverse, and impact all brain functions at different levels. Prematurity occurs between 22 and 36 weeks of gestation. This period is marked by extreme dynamics in the physiologic maturation, structural, and functional processes. These different processes appear sequentially or simultaneously. They are dependent on genetic and/or environmental factors. Disturbance of these processes or of the fine-tuning between them, when caring for premature children, is likely to induce disturbances in the structural and functional development of the immature neural networks. These will appear as impairments in learning skills progress and are likely to have a lasting impact on the development of children born prematurely. The level of severity depends on the initial alteration, whether structural or functional. In this chapter, after having briefly reviewed the neurodevelopmental, structural, and functional processes, we describe, in a nonexhaustive manner, the impact of prematurity on the different brain, motor, sensory, and cognitive functions.

Preparing for Life After Birth: Introducing the Concepts of Intrauterine and Extrauterine Sensory Entrainment in Mammalian Young

Presented is an updated understanding of the development of sensory systems in the offspring of a wide range of terrestrial mammals, the prenatal exposure of those systems to salient stimuli, and the mechanisms by which that exposure can embed particular sensory capabilities that prepare newborns to respond appropriately to similar stimuli they may encounter after birth. Taken together, these are the constituents of the phenomenon of "trans-natal sensory continuity" where the embedded sensory capabilities are considered to have been "learnt" and, when accessed subsequently, they are said to have been "remembered". An alternative explanation of trans-natal sensory continuity is provided here in order to focus on the mechanisms of "embedding" and "accessing" instead of the potentially more subjectively conceived outcomes of "learning" and "memory". Thus, the mechanistic concept of "intrauterine sensory entrainment" has been introduced, its foundation being the well-established neuroplastic capability of nervous systems to respond to sensory inputs by reorganising their neural structures, functions, and connections. Five conditions need to be met before "trans-natal sensory continuity" can occur. They are (1) sufficient neurological maturity to support minimal functional activity in specific sensory receptor systems in utero; (2) the presence of sensory stimuli that activate their aligned receptors before birth; (3) the neurological capability for entrained functions within specific sensory modalities to be retained beyond birth; (4) specific sensory stimuli that are effective both before and after birth; and (5) a capability to detect those stimuli when or if they are presented after birth in ways that differ (e.g., in air) from their presentation via fluid media before birth. Numerous beneficial outcomes of this process have been reported for mammalian newborns, but the range of benefits depends on how many of the full set of sensory modalities are functional at the time of birth. Thus, the breadth of sensory capabilities may be extensive, somewhat restricted, or minimal in offspring that are, respectively, neurologically mature, moderately immature, or exceptionally immature at birth. It is noted that birth marks a transition from intrauterine sensory entrainment to extrauterine sensory entrainment in all mammalian young. Depending on their neurological maturity, extrauterine entrainment contributes to the continuing maturation of the different sensory systems that are operational at birth, the later development and maturation of the systems that are absent at birth, and the combined impact of those factors on the behaviour of newborn and young mammals. Intrauterine sensory entrainment helps to prepare mammalian young for life immediately after birth, and extrauterine sensory entrainment continues this process until all sensory modalities develop full functionality. It is apparent that, overall, extrauterine sensory entrainment and its aligned neuroplastic responses underlie numerous postnatal learning and memory events which contribute to the maturation of all sensory capabilities that eventually enable mammalian young to live autonomously.

Cardiac Orienting to Auditory Stimulation in the Fetus

The objective of this study was to longitudinally evaluate the cardiac response to auditory stimulation in fetuses born during their 28th gestational week. A longitudinal, within-subjects design allowed for interpretations of the cardiac response tracked from 28 to 38 weeks gestational age (GA). All mothers recited a short passage from 28 to 34 weeks GA, and their fetuses were tested at 28, 32, 33, and 34 weeks GA. Following discontinuation of maternal recitation at 34 weeks GA, testing continued at 36 and 38 weeks GA. Experimental subjects were tested with a recording of a female stranger speaking the assigned passage and control subjects tested with a novel passage. The cardiac response was evaluated visually and statistically based on the magnitude and duration of the changes in heart rate. Visually, the cardiac response transitioned from a minimal magnitude (<5 beats per minute) with short duration (<5 seconds) cardiac deceleration in both experimental and control subjects during testing from 28 to 38 weeks GA and was confirmed statistically. For all experimental subjects, however, a long duration or sustained (>5 seconds) cardiac deceleration of greater magnitude (>5 beats per minute) was detected during 34-, 36-, or 38-week test session and was confirmed using a computational algorithm in SAS. Further investigation into additional forms of auditory stimulation at different developmental time periods is needed.

Correlation between human nervous system development and acquisition of fetal skills: An overview

Understanding the association between fetal nervous system structure and functioning should be an important goal in neurodevelopmental sciences, especially when considering the emerging knowledge regarding the importance of prenatal onset. Intrauterine development of the human central nervous system consists of specific processes: neurogenesis, neuronal migration, synaptogenesis, and myelination. However, as extensively shown by the neurobehavioral studies in the last century, the development of the central nervous system involves both structure and functioning. It is now recognised that the developing motor and sensory systems are able to function long before they have completed their neural maturation and that the intrauterine experience contributes to neurobehavioral development. This review analyzes the recent literature, looking at the association between the human nervous system maturation and fetal behavior. This article will follow the development and skill acquisition of the anatomical nervous system across the three trimesters of the gestation period.

Functional Maps at the Onset of Auditory Inputs in Very Early Preterm Human Neonates

During the last trimester of human gestation, neurons reach their final destination and establish long- and short-distance connections. Due to the difficulties obtaining functional data at this age, the characteristics of the functional architecture at the onset of sensory thalamocortical connectivity in humans remain largely unknown. In particular, it is unknown to what extent responses evoked by an external stimulus are general or already sensitive to certain stimuli. In the present study, we recorded high-density event-related potentials (ERPs) in 19 neonates, tested ten weeks before term (28-32 weeks gestational age (wGA), that is, at an average age of 30 wGA) by means of a syllable discrimination task (i.e., a phonetic change: ba vs. ga; and a voice change: male vs. female voice). We first observed that the syllables elicited 4 peaks with distinct topographies implying a progression of the sensory input along a processing hierarchy; second, repetition induced a decrease in the amplitude (repetition suppression) of these peaks, but their latencies and topographies remained stable; and third, a change of stimulus generated mismatch responses, which were more precisely time-locked to event onset in the case of a phonetic change than in the case of a voice change. A hierarchical and parallel functional architecture is therefore able to process environmental sounds in a timely precise fashion, well before term birth. This elaborate functional architecture at the onset of extrinsic neural activity suggests that specialized areas weakly dependent on the environment are present in the perisylvian region as part of the genetic endowment of the human species.

Investigating skin-to-skin care patterns with extremely preterm infants in the NICU and their effect on early cognitive and communication performance: a retrospective cohort study

OBJECTIVES

The primary objective of the study was to investigate how patterns of skin-to-skin care might impact infant early cognitive and communication performance.

DESIGN

This was a retrospective cohort study.

SETTING

This study took place in a level-IV all-referral neonatal intensive care unit in the Midwest USA specialising in the care of extremely preterm infants.

PARTICIPANTS

Data were collected from the electronic medical records of all extremely preterm infants (gestational age <27 weeks) admitted to the unit during 2010-2011 and who completed 6-month and 12-month developmental assessments in the follow-up clinic (n=97).

OUTCOME MEASURES

Outcome measures included the cognitive and communication subscales of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, Third Edition (Bayley-III); and skin-to-skin patterns including: total hours of maternal and paternal participation throughout hospitalisation, total duration in weeks and frequency (hours per week).

ANALYSIS

Extracted data were analysed through a multistep process of logistic regressions, t-tests, χ2 tests and Fisher's exact tests followed with exploratory network analysis using novel visual analytic software.

RESULTS

Infants who received above the sample median in total hours, weekly frequency and total hours from mothers and fathers of skin-to-skin care were more likely to score ≥80 on the cognitive and communication scales of the Bayley-III. However, the results were not statistically significant (p>0.05). Mothers provided the majority of skin-to-skin care with a sharp decline at 30 weeks corrected age, regardless of when extremely preterm infants were admitted. Additional exploratory network analysis suggests that medical and skin-to-skin factors play a parallel, non-synergistic role in contributing to early cognitive and communication performance as assessed through the Bayley-III.

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggests an association between early and frequent skin-to-skin care with extremely preterm infants and early cognitive and communication performance.

Antenatal Training with Music and Maternal Talk Concurrently May Reduce Autistic-Like Behaviors at around 3 Years of Age

Antenatal training through music and maternal talk to the unborn fetus is a topic of general interest for parents-to-be in China, but we still lack a comprehensive assessment of their effects on the development of autistic-like behaviors during early childhood. During 2014-2016, 34,749 parents of children around the age of 3 years who were enrolled at kindergarten in the Longhua district of Shenzhen participated in this study. Self-administered questionnaires regarding demographics, antenatal music training, and maternal talk to the fetus during pregnancy were completed by the children's primary caregivers. Autistic-like behaviors were assessed using the Autism Behavioral Checklist. Tobit regression analyses revealed that antenatal music training and maternal talk to the fetus was associated with a reduction in autistic-like behaviors in children, with a dose-dependent relationship. Furthermore, factorial analysis of covariance indicated a significant interaction effect between antenatal music training and maternal talk to the fetus on the autistic-like behaviors and found that children who often experienced antenatal music training and maternal talk concurrently had the lowest risk of autistic-like behaviors, while children who were never exposed to maternal talk and only sometimes experienced antenatal music training had the highest risk. Our results suggest that antenatal training through both music and maternal talk to the unborn fetus might reduce the risk of children's autistic-like behaviors at around 3 years of age.

New Perspectives on Spontaneous Brain Activity: Dynamic Networks and Energy Matter

Spontaneous brain activity has received increasing attention as demonstrated by the exponential rise in the number of published article on this topic over the last 30 years. Such “intrinsic” brain activity, generated in the absence of an explicit task, is frequently associated with resting-state or default-mode networks (DMN)s. The focus on characterizing spontaneous brain activity promises to shed new light on questions concerning the structural and functional architecture of the brain and how they are related to “mind”. However, many critical questions have yet to be addressed. In this review, we focus on a scarcely explored area, specifically the energetic requirements and constraints of spontaneous activity, taking into account both thermodynamical and informational perspectives. We argue that the “classical” definitions of spontaneous activity do not take into account an important feature, that is, the critical thermodynamic energetic differences between spontaneous and evoked brain activity. Spontaneous brain activity is associated with slower oscillations compared with evoked, task-related activity, hence it exhibits lower levels of enthalpy and “free-energy” (i.e., the energy that can be converted to do work), thus supporting noteworthy thermodynamic energetic differences between spontaneous and evoked brain activity. Increased spike frequency during evoked activity has a significant metabolic cost, consequently, brain functions traditionally associated with spontaneous activity, such as mind wandering, require less energy that other nervous activities. We also review recent empirical observations in neuroscience, in order to capture how spontaneous brain dynamics and mental function can be embedded in a non-linear dynamical framework, which considers nervous activity in terms of phase spaces, particle trajectories, random walks, attractors and/or paths at the edge of the chaos. This takes us from the thermodynamic free-energy, to the realm of “variational free-energy”, a theoretical construct pertaining to probability and information theory which allows explanation of unexplored features of spontaneous brain activity.

STUDIES IN FETAL BEHAVIOR: REVISITED, RENEWED, AND REIMAGINED

Among the earliest volumes of this monograph series was a report by Lester Sontag and colleagues, of the esteemed Fels Institute, on the heart rate of the human fetus as an expression of the developing nervous system. Here, some 75 years later, we commemorate this work and provide historical and contemporary context on knowledge regarding fetal development, as well as results from our own research. These are based on synchronized monitoring of maternal and fetal parameters assessed between 24 and 36 weeks gestation on 740 maternal-fetal pairs compiled from eight separate longitudinal studies, which commenced in the early 1990s. Data include maternal heart rate, respiratory sinus arrhythmia, and electrodrmal activity and fetal heartrate, motor activity, and their integration. Hierarchical linear modeling of developmental trajectories reveals that the fetus develops in predictable ways consistent with advancing parasympathetic regulation. Findings also include:within-fetus stability (i.e., preservation of rank ordering over time) for heart rate, motor, and coupling measures; a transitional period of decelerating development near 30 weeks gestation; sex differences in fetal heart rate measures but not in most fetal motor activity measures; modest correspondence in fetal neurodevelopment among siblings as compared to unrelated fetuses; and deviations from normative fetal development in fetuses affected by intrauterine growth restriction and other conditions. Maternal parameters also change during this period of gestation and there is evidence that fetal sex and individual variation in fetal neurobehavior influence maternal physio-logical processes and the local intrauterine context. Results are discussed within the framework of neuromaturation, the emergence of individual differences, and the bidirectional nature of the maternal-fetal relationship.We pose a number of open questions for future research. Although the human fetus remains just out of reach, new technologies portend an era of accelerated discovery of the earliest period of development

An acoustic gap between the NICU and womb: a potential risk for compromised neuroplasticity of the auditory system in preterm infants

The intrauterine environment allows the fetus to begin hearing low-frequency sounds in a protected fashion, ensuring initial optimal development of the peripheral and central auditory system. However, the auditory nursery provided by the womb vanishes once the preterm newborn enters the high-frequency (HF) noisy environment of the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The present article draws a concerning line between auditory system development and HF noise in the NICU, which we argue is not necessarily conducive to fostering this development. Overexposure to HF noise during critical periods disrupts the functional organization of auditory cortical circuits. As a result, we theorize that the ability to tune out noise and extract acoustic information in a noisy environment may be impaired, leading to increased risks for a variety of auditory, language, and attention disorders. Additionally, HF noise in the NICU often masks human speech sounds, further limiting quality exposure to linguistic stimuli. Understanding the impact of the sound environment on the developing auditory system is an important first step in meeting the developmental demands of preterm newborns undergoing intensive care.