Marco Dondi

How sleeping neonates smile

Infants over one month of age tend to produce two types of smiling during especially positive social interactions, Duchenne smiles involving cheek raising and open-mouth smiles. Little is known, however, about the prevalence, frequency, duration and organization of these smiles among neonates. Twenty-five full-term, healthy neonates (12 female) were videotaped during six minutes of sleep. Smiles were identified and analysed using an anatomically based coding system (FACS/Baby FACS). One-half of the neonates showed bilateral Duchenne smiles. One-quarter of the neonates showed bilateral Duchenne smiles at a mature level of intensity whose median duration was 1⅓ s. By contrast, open-mouth bilateral smiles occurred in less than one-tenth of the sample. The contrast between the more frequent bilateral Duchenne smiles and the less frequent open-mouth smile is discussed in terms of the early synergistic functioning of facial muscles and contrasted with the smiling patterns of older infants.

Clinical analysis of spontaneous startles in preterm neonates via sensor networks

Spontaneous startle represents a complex motor pattern, consisting of sudden and jerky movements, which typically occurs during quiet sleep in fullterm and preterm neonates. It has been studied as an endogenous behavior by focusing on its potential contribution to an early diagnosis of central nervous system (CNS) dysfunctions. This paper aims to develop and validate an automated and non-invasive method for inferring spontaneous startles in preterm neonates. Such inference relies on measurements gathered via a hypo-allergenic pad containing a matrix of networked sensors able to measure pressure over time. The measurements gathered by sensors are processed to determine spatiotemporal features allowing to infer spontaneous startles and discriminate them from other behaviors, as well as to identify anomalies and atypical patterns possibly related to CNS issues. Preliminary results based on measurements will be presented, showing the potential benefits of the proposed method in spontaneous startle recognition.

Is startle a lateralised response in early infancy

The aim of the study was to explore whether the acoustic startle response shows signs of early lateralisation. Using non-invasive startle measurements (Automated Infant Motor Movement Startle Seat and Facial Action Coding System), an analysis of response latencies and intensities on the right and left body sides was performed, investigating the presence of asymmetries on the whole-body startle and on the facial component of the startle motor pattern in a group of 5-month-old infants. The findings suggest that the infant whole-body startle is a lateralised response, characterised by a right bias latency. This lateralisation could reflect an underlying lateralised organisation of the infant startle neural circuitry. On the other hand, the analysis of the facial component of the startle motor pattern did not reveal any significant asymmetry. The discrepancy found in the whole-body response and in the startle facial component will be discussed, reflecting on the limits of the adopted methodologies. The use of a high-speed camcorder might allow future research to analyse more in depth the startle fast face responses.