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Spatiotemporal organization of myoclonic twitching in sleeping human infants
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Spatiotemporal organization of myoclonic twitching in sleeping human infants

Greta Sokoloff, Meredith M Hickerson, Rebecca Y Wen, Megan E Tobias, Bob McMurray and Mark S Blumberg
Developmental psychobiology, Vol.62(6), pp.697-710
09/2020
DOI: 10.1002/dev.21954
PMCID: PMC8513809
PMID: 32037557
url
https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.21954View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

During the perinatal period in mammals when active sleep predominates, skeletal muscles twitch throughout the body. We have hypothesized that myoclonic twitches provide unique insight into the functional status of the human infant's nervous system. However, assessments of the rate and patterning of twitching have largely been restricted to infant rodents. Thus, here we analyze twitching in human infants over the first seven postnatal months. Using videography and behavioral measures of twitching during bouts of daytime sleep, we find at all ages that twitching across the body occurs predominantly in bursts at intervals of 10 s or less. We also find that twitching is expressed differentially across the body and with age. For example, twitching of the face and head is most prevalent shortly after birth and decreases over the first several months. In addition, twitching of the hands and feet occurs at a consistently higher rate than does twitching elsewhere in the body. Finally, the patterning of twitching becomes more structured with age, with twitches of the left and right hands and feet exhibiting the strongest coupling. Altogether, these findings support the notion that twitches can provide a unique source of information about typical and atypical sensorimotor development.
 development physiological time sensorimotor development rat active sleep rapid eye movements behavior neurodevelopmental disorders REM sleep

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