Peter Hepper

Handedness in the human fetus

The developmental origins of behavioural asymmetries, in particular handedness, have aroused considerable interest and debate. Until now such behavioural asymmetries have only been reported after birth. Here we report the existence of handedness before birth, expressed in terms of thumb-sucking by the fetus. Ultrasound observations of fetuses from 15 weeks to term revealed a marked bias for sucking the thumb of the right hand. This preference appears to be maintained throughout pregnancy, is unrelated to fetal position in utero but correlates with head position preference in the supine newborn. The findings indicate that handedness is present prior to birth and the implications of this for the development of laterality are discussed.

Kin recognition: functions and mechanisms. A review.

1. The aim of this paper has been to review the theory behind kin recognition to examine the benefits individuals obtain by recognizing their kin and to review the mechanisms used by individuals in their recognition of kin.

Development of fetal hearing.

Previous research has revealed that the human fetus responds to sound, but to date there has been little systematic investigation of the development of fetal hearing. The development of fetal behavioural responsiveness to pure tone auditory stimuli (100 Hz, 250 Hz, 500 Hz, 1000 Hz, and 3000 Hz) was examined from 19 to 35 weeks of gestational age. Stimuli were presented by a loudspeaker placed on the maternal abdomen and the fetuss response, a movement, recorded by ultrasound. The fetus responded first to the 500 Hz tone, where the first response was observed at 19 weeks of gestational age. The range of frequencies responded to expanded first downwards to lower frequencies, 100 Hz and 250 Hz, and then upwards to higher frequencies, 1000 Hz and 3000 Hz. At 27 weeks of gestational age, 96% of fetuses responded to the 250 Hz and 500 Hz tones but none responded to the 1000 Hz and 3000 Hz tones. Responsiveness to 1000 Hz and 3000 Hz tones was observed in all fetuses at 33 and 35 weeks of gestational age, respectively. For all frequencies there was a large decrease (20-30 dB) in the intensity level required to elicit a response as the fetus matured. The observed pattern of behavioural responsiveness reflects underlying maturation of the auditory system. The sensitivity of the fetus to sounds in the low frequency range may promote language acquisition and result in increased susceptibility to auditory system damage arising from exposure to intense low frequency sounds.

Prevalence of behaviour problems reported by owners of dogs purchased from an animal rescue shelter.

This study examined the prevalence of behaviour problems exhibited by dogs within 4 weeks of acquisition from a rescue shelter in Northern Ireland. One thousand five hundred and forty-seven people who had purchased a dog from a rescue shelter in Northern Ireland were sent a postal questionnaire designed to collect information on the behaviours exhibited by their dog within the first month of acquisition. Five hundred and fifty-six people responded to the survey, representing a response rate of 37%. The majority of respondents (68.3%) reported that their dog exhibited a behaviour problem, the most common being fearfulness. Most of those respondents (89.7%) who returned their dog to the shelter did so because the animal exhibited behaviour that they considered undesirable. Male dogs showed more unacceptable behaviours than females, specifically inter-male aggression, sexual problems and straying tendencies. More stray dogs displayed undesirable behaviour than unwanteds, specifically straying tendencies. Puppies were less likely to exhibit unacceptable behaviours than juveniles or adults, particularly fearfulness, sexual problems and straying tendencies. More juvenile dogs showed excessive activity and excessive barking than puppies or adults. More adult dogs displayed aggression towards other dogs than juveniles or puppies. Findings indicate that dogs purchased from rescue shelters do exhibit behaviour problems that may lead to their return. The number of dogs admitted or returned to rescue shelters with behaviour problems may be reduced by raising public awareness regarding the value of behaviour therapy and introducing behaviour therapy schemes to rescue shelters.

Self-reports of psychosocial functioning among children and young adults with cleft lip and palate.

Objective: A cross-sectional study was employed to determine the psychosocial effects of cleft lip and/or palate among children and young adults, compared with a control group of children and young adults without cleft lip and palate. Participants: The study comprised 160 children and young adults with cleft lip and/or palate and 113 children and young adults without cleft lip and/or palate. All participants were between 8 and 21 years of age. Outcome measures: Psychological functioning (anxiety, self-esteem, depression, and behavioral problems) was assessed using validated psychological questionnaires. Happiness with facial appearance was rated using a visual analog scale. Social functioning, including experience of teasing/bullying and satisfaction with speech, was assessed using a semistructured interview. Results: Participants with cleft lip and/or palate reported greater behavioral problems (p < .001) and more symptoms of depression (p < .01); they were teased more often (p < .001) and were less happy with their facial appearance (p < .01) and speech (p < .001), compared with controls. There were no significant difference between subjects with cleft lip and/or palate and subjects without cleft lip and/or palate in terms of anxiety (p > .05) or self-esteem (p > .05). Having been teased was a significant predictor of poor psychological functioning, more so than having a cleft lip and/or palate per se (p < .001). Conclusions: Teasing was greater among participants who had cleft lip and/ or palate and it was a significant predictor of poorer psychosocial functioning. Children and young adults with cleft lip and/or palate require psychological assessment, specifically focusing on their experience of teasing, as part of their routine cleft care.

Lateralised behaviour in first trimester human foetuses

Behavioural lateralisation is a common feature of everyday behaviour, most familiar in the exhibition of handedness. Despite differing theories about the origins of laterality, little is known about their ontogenesis. This study observed the left and right arm movements of 72 foetuses at 10 weeks of gestational age, the first age at which lateralised behaviour may be observed. There was a highly significant preference for foetuses to move their right arm more than their left arm, 85% exhibiting more right arm than left arm movements. There was no difference in the amount of movements exhibited with the preferred arm, whether it be right or left. Laterality of behaviour at such an early gestational age (probably as early as it is possible for it to be observed) is unlikely to be under brain control but is probably of more muscular or spinal determination. The possibility that early differential motor behaviour may contribute to subsequent laterality of behaviour and asymmetrical brain growth, must be considered.

An Examination of Fetal Learning Before and After Birth

A series of experiments is reported which examined the effects of prenatal learning in newborn infants and fetuses, in particular to see if the same measures can be used to assess learning before and after birth. Experiment 1 indicated that newborns who had been exposed to the theme tune of a popular TV programme during pregnancy exhibited changes in heartrate, number of movements and behavioural state 2–4 days after birth. These effects could be attributed to prenatal exposure alone and not to postnatal exposure or a genetic predisposition, and were specific to the tune learned. Evidence of learning had disappeared by 21 days of age. Experiment 2, using similar methodology, found fetuses exhibited changes in their movements when played a tune heard previously during pregnancy. As with Experiment 1 this was not the result of postnatal or genetic factors and was specific to the tune learned. Interestingly, fetuses increased their movements on hearing the tune whilst newboms decreased their movements. These...

The amniotic-fluid - an important priming role in kin recognition

Abstract The ability of individuals to learn prenatally about their amniotic fluid may be of particular importance in the development of kin recognition, ensuring that individuals learn about genetically related conspecifics. Rat pups, 8 h old, were tested for their preference between their mothers amniotic fluid and that from an unrelated rat. The pups preferred their mothers fluid. Furthermore, pups born by Caesarean section, when tested immediately after birth, preferred their mothers fluid to that of an unrelated rat, indicating that this preference is acquired prenatally. Thus, at birth, rats may possess a rudimentary idea of who their kin are, and prefer and orient towards them, ensuring that any further learning of kinship information is from genetically related conspecifics.

Frequency discrimination by the fetus

The ability to discriminate between acoustic signals of different frequencies is fundamental to the interpretation of auditory information and the development of language perception and production. The fact that the human fetus responds to sounds of different frequencies raises the question of whether the fetus is able to discriminate between them? To investigate whether the fetus has the ability to discriminate between different pure tone acoustic stimuli and different speech sounds the following study used an habituation paradigm and examined whether the fetus could discriminate between two pure tone acoustic stimuli, 250 Hz and 500 Hz, or two speech sounds, [ba] and [bi], at 27 and 35 weeks of gestational age. The results indicated that the fetus is capable of discriminating between the different sounds, i.e. 250 Hz and 500 Hz and [ba] and [bi] at 35 weeks of gestational age but less able at 27 weeks of gestational age. The implications of this for the development of the auditory system are discussed.

Effects of replicating primary-reflex movements on specific reading difficulties in children: a randomised, double-blind, controlled trial

BACKGROUND Children with specific reading difficulties have problems that extend beyond the range of underlying language-related deficits (eg, they have difficulties with balance and motor control). We investigated the role of persistent primary reflexes (which are closely linked in the earliest months of life to the balance system) in disrupting the development of reading skills. METHODS We assessed the efficacy of an intervention programme based on replicating the movements generated by the primary-reflex system during fetal and neonatal life. A randomised, individually matched, double-blind, placebo-controlled design was used and children (aged 8-11 years) with persistent primary reflexes and a poor standard of reading were enrolled into one of three treatment groups: experimental (children were given a specific movement sequence); placebo-control (children were given non-specific movements); and control (no movements). FINDINGS From an initial sample of 98 children, 60 children, 20 in each group were matched on age, sex, verbal intelligence quotient (IQ), reading ability, and persistent asymmetrical tonic neck reflex. For asymmetrical tonic neck-reflex levels there was a significant (group by time) interaction (p<0.001). The experimental group showed a significant decrease in the level of persistent reflex over the course of the study (mean change -1.8 [95% CI -2.4 to -1.2], p<0.001), whereas the changes in the placebo-control and control groups were not significant (-0.2 [-0.9 to 0.6] and -0.4 [-0.9 to 0.2]). INTERPRETATION This study provides further evidence of a link between reading difficulties and control of movement in children. In particular, our study highlights how the educational functioning of children may be linked to interference from an early neurodevelopmental system (the primary-reflex system). A new approach to the treatment of children with reading difficulties is proposed involving assessment of underlying neurological functioning, and appropriate remediation.