Feeling Baby Movements? Good for Sensorimotor Development

Spontaneous, random baby movements might help in the development of the sensorimotor system, i.e., our ability to control our muscles, movement, and coordination, according to new research led by the University of Tokyo. Detailed motion capture of newborns and infants was combined with a musculoskeletal computer model, to enable researchers to analyze communication among muscles and sensations across the whole body.

Researchers found patterns of muscle interaction developing based on the babies’ random exploratory behavior, that would later enable them to perform sequential movements as infants.

Right from birth — and even in the womb — babies start to kick, wiggle and move seemingly without aim or external stimulation. These are called ‘spontaneous movements’.

Currently, there is limited knowledge about how newborns and infants learn to move their bodies. Previous research into sensorimotor development has focused on kinematic properties, and muscle activities that cause movement in a joint or a part of the body.

However, the study focused on muscle activity and sensory input signals for the whole body. By combining a musculoskeletal model and neuroscientific method, they found that spontaneous movements, which seem to have no explicit task or purpose, contribute to coordinated sensorimotor development.

Newborns Acquiring Sensorimotor Modules Through Spontaneous Body Movements

First, the team recorded the joint movements of 12 healthy newborns (less than 10 days old) and 10 young infants (about 3 months old) using motion capture technology.

Next, they estimated the babies’ muscle activity and sensory input signals with the aid of a whole-body, infant-scale musculoskeletal computer model which they had created. Finally, they used computer algorithms to analyze the spatiotemporal (both space and time) features of the interaction between the input signals and muscle activity.

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It has been commonly assumed that sensorimotor system development generally depends on the occurrence of repeated sensorimotor interactions, meaning the more you do the same action the more likely you are to learn and remember it.

However, the results implied that infants develop their sensorimotor system based on explorational behavior or curiosity, so they are not just repeating the same action but a variety of actions. In addition to this, new findings provide a conceptual linkage between early spontaneous movements and spontaneous neuronal activity.

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Previous studies on humans and animals have shown that motor behavior (movement) involves a small set of primitive muscular control patterns. These are patterns that can typically be seen in task-specific or cyclic movements, like walking or reaching.

Even though sensorimotor wandering, the babies showed an increase in coordinated whole-body movements and anticipatory movements. The movements performed by the infant group showed more common patterns and sequential movements, compared to the random movements of the newborn group.

Next, researchers want to look at how sensorimotor wandering affects later development, such as walking and reaching, along with more complex behaviors and higher cognitive functions.



Source-Eurekalert