Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-29T06:36:55.177Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Spontaneous Kicking in Fullterm and Preterm Infants: Intralimb and Interlimb Coordination

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2015

J.P. Piek*
Affiliation:
Curtin University of Technology
N. Gasson
Affiliation:
Curtin University of Technology
*
Research Centre for Applied Psychology, School of Psychology, Curtin University of Technology, GPO Box U1987, PERTH 6001, Western Australia, E-mail: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

The development of intralimb and interlimb synergies during spontaneous kicking were examined in a longitudinal study of fullterm and preterm infants who were tested at 4 weekly intervals from 8 weeks to 20 weeks of age. The degree of coupling between the hip, knee, and ankle joints of each leg and between the same joint of both legs was studied using time-series analyses that determined the cross correlations and phase lags between joint angles. The findings of the current study do not support the argument that interlimb coordination followed a similar pattern to intralimb coordination (Thelen, 1985), as different patterns of development emerged for interlimb and intralimb coordination. In addition, developmental differences were evident for the preterm infants despite correcting for age.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Australian Psychological Society 1997

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bekoff, A. (1981). Embryonic development of the neural circuitry underlying motorcoordination. In Cowan, W.M. (Ed.), Studies in developmental neurobiology (pp. 134170). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bernstein, N. (1967). The co-ordination and regulation of movements. Sydney: Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
Bricker, D., Squires, J., & Mounts, L. (1995) . Ages and stages questionnaires: A parent-completed, child-monitoring system. Baltimore, ML: Paul H. Brookes.Google Scholar
Cioni, G., & Prechtl, H.F.R. (1988). Development of posture and motility in preterm infants. In von Euler, C., Forssberg, H., & Lagercrantz, H. (Eds), Neurobiology of early infant behaviour (pp. 6977). Stockholm: Stockton Press.Google Scholar
Dammann, O.H., Walther, H., Allers, B., Schroder, M., Drescher, J., Lutz, D., Veelken, N., & Schulte, F.J. (1996). Development of a regional cohort of very-low-birthweight children at six years: Cognitive abilities are associated with neurological disability and social background. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 38, 97108.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Droit, S., Boldrini, A., & Cioni, G. (1996). Rhythmical leg movements in low-risk and brain-damaged preterm infants. Early Human Development, 44, 201213.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Geerdink, J.J., Hopkins, B., Beek, W.J., & Heriza, C.B. (1996). The organisation of leg movements in preterm and full-term infants after term age. Developmental Psychobiology, 29(4), 335351.3.0.CO;2-R>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heriza, C.B. (1988a). Organization of leg movements in preterm infants. Physical Therapy, 68, 13401346.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heriza, C.B. (1988b). Comparison of leg movements in preterm infants at term with healthy full-term infants. Physical Therapy, 68, 16871693.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heriza, C.B. (1991). Implications of a dynamical systems approach to understanding infant kicking behavior. Physical Therapy, 71,222235.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jensen, J.L., Thelen, E., Ulrich, B.B., Schneider, K., & Zernicke, R.F. (1995). Adaptive dynamics of the leg movement patterns of human infants: III. Age-related differences in limb control. Journal of Motor Behavior, 27(4), 366374.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kugler, P.N., & Turvey, M.T. (1987). Information, natural law, and the self-assembly of rhythmical movement. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Largo, R.H. (1993). Early motor development in preterm children. In Savelsbergh, G.J.P. (Ed.), The development of coordination in infancy (pp. 425444). Amsterdam: Elsevier Science.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neilson, P.D. (1993). The problem of redundancy in movement control: The adaptive model theory approach. Psychological Research, 55, 99106.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Parker, H. (1992). Children’s motor rhythm and timing: A dynamical approach. In Summers, J.J. (Ed.), Approaches to the study of motor control and learning (pp. 163194). Amsterdam: Elsevier Science.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piek, J.P. (1995). The contribution of spontaneous movements in the acquisition of motor coordination in infants. In Glencross, D.J. & Piek, J.P. (Eds.), Motor control and sensory motor integration: Issues and directions (pp. 199230). Amsterdam: Elsevier Science B.V.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piek, J.P. (1996). A quantitative analysis of spontaneous movements in infants. Human Movement Science, 15, 707726.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piek, J.P., & Carman, R.C. (1994). Developmental profiles of spontaneous movements in infants. Early Human Development, 39, 109126.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thelen, E. (1985). Developmental origins of motor coordination: Leg movements in human infants. Developmental Psychobiology, 18,122.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thelen, E., & Fisher, D.M. (1983). The organisation of spontaneous leg movements in newborn infants. Journal of Motor Behavior, 15, 353377.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thelen, E., Jensen, J., Kamm, K., Corbetta, D., Schneider, K., & Zernicke, R.F. (1991). Infant motor development: Implications for motor neuroscience. In Requin, J. and G.E., Stelmach (Eds.), Tutorials in motor neuroscience (pp. 4357). Amsterdam: Kluwer Academic.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thelen, E., Ridley-Johnson, R., & Fisher, D. (1983). Shifting patterns of bilateral coordination and lateral dominance in the leg movements of young infants. Developmental Psychobiology, 16,2946.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Whitall, J., & Clark, J.E. (1994). The development of bipedal interlimb coordination. In Swinnen, S., Heuer, H., Massion, J., & Casaer, P. (Eds), Interlimb coordination: Neural, dynamical, and cognitive constraints (pp. 395411). San Diego: Academic Press.Google Scholar