[Comparison of behavior characteristics of the spontaneously alert state and the liberated state in the term newborn]

Scoping Review of Self-Regulation: What Are Occupational Therapists Talking About?

Although the term self-regulation is appearing more frequently in the occupational therapy literature, the extent to which it is consistently conceptualized is not clear. The aim of this scoping review was to examine how the term self-regulation is used by occupational therapists in research and practice literature. A total of 58 publications that included occupational therapy and self-regulation in the title, key words, or abstract were identified. Self-regulation was not explicitly defined by more than half of the authors. Four theoretical orientations seem to guide conceptualization: synactive development, sensory integration, cognitive-behavioral theory, and self-regulation theory. Conceptualization differed according to the population, levels of strategy use, source of strategy implementation, and desired outcomes. A lack of definitional clarity and conceptual consistency of the term self-regulation was noted. Use of an explicit definition in relation to an identified theoretical framework is recommended to promote intra- and interprofessional communication, education, and research.

Influence of the state of alertness on the pattern visual evoked potentials (PVEP) in very young infant

The aim of the study was to evaluate the pattern visual evoked potentials (PVEP) combined with an optimal state of vigilance, called liberated state (LS), in order to improve testing in very young infants. Transient PVEP were recorded in response to a checkerboard pattern of 120, 60 and 30 min of arc. in 56 fullterm newborns and 79 preterm infants from birth to 4 months of age. In the fullterms, 28 infants in each group were tested in LS or spontaneous alertness (SA) while in the preterms, 48 infants in each group were tested in LS or SA. No significant difference was found in the amplitude and/or peak time of the PVEP responses between subjects tested in LS compared to SA groups. However, the LS condition improved by approximately 25% the feasibility of prolonged PVEP testing in preterms aged less than 2 months (corrected age). This suggest that the LS condition enhances the clinical feasibility of PVEP testing in very young infants and should be used to optimize the evaluation of visual development in high risk infants in this age group.