Arousals in infants.

B T Thach; A Lijowska

doi:10.1093/sleep/19.suppl_10.s271

Home/Archive/PubMed

PubMed · 9085529

Arousals in infants.

B T Thach·A Lijowska

View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Polygraphic studies of stimulus-induced arousals from sleep in young infants have identified a highly consistent sequence of reflex responses occurring during the 2-4 second period prior to full behavioral arousal. The initial responses in this sequence are an augmented breath (sigh) coupled with a sleep startle that is then followed by stereotyped "thrashing" motor activity. Partial arousals, identified by early components of the sequence (a sigh or a sigh plus startle), were frequently elicited. Startles and thrashing activity were identified as having a significant external airway protective function during mild asphyxia induced by covering the infants' nasal and oral airways.

Explore related subjects

Arousal Carbon Dioxide Electrocardiography Humans Infant Infant, Newborn Oxygen Consumption Reflex, Startle Respiration Sleep Sudden Infant Death Journal Article Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.Review

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeX RIS

B T Thach, A Lijowska. 1996. Arousals in infants.. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep%2F19.suppl_10.s271

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related citations

PubMed2007

Attachment in toddlers with autism and other developmental disorders.

Attachment was assessed in toddlers with Autistic Disorder (n=20), Pervasive Developmental Disorder (n=14), Mental Retardation (n=12), Language Development Disorder (n=16), and a non-clinical comparison group (n=18), using the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP). Children in the clinical groups were more often disorganized and less often securely attached. Severity of autism was associated with more attachment insecurity, and lower developmental level increased the chance for disorganized attachment. Attachment disorganization was related to increased heart rate during the SSP. Controlling for basal cortisol and developmental level, more autistic symptoms predicted lower cortisol responses to the SSP. The findings support the importance of disorganized attachment for children with autism.

Arousal↗

PubMed2007

Children's emotion regulation: Self-report and physiological response to peer provocation.

The authors examined the notion that children's emotion regulation (ER) is a uniform skill by (a) investigating the concordance between self-report of ER and physiological measures and by (b) examining ER in a specific context (e.g., peer provocation) and context-free manner (e.g., during a semistructured interview of ER abilities). Seventy-two children in middle childhood (average age = 9 years) participated. Time-locked measures of heart rate reactivity and recovery were obtained in response to provoking comments, and vagal regulation was measured throughout the provocation session. Children who reported greater dysregulation showed increased heart rate reactivity to provocative comments (i.e., steeper heart rate slope) but no difference in heart rate recovery. The context-free but not the context-specific self-report measure was associated with a failure to suppress vagal tone. Implications for ER measurement and children's peer relations are discussed.

Arousal↗

PubMed2007

12-month-old infants allocate increased neural resources to stimuli associated with negative adult emotion.

Young infants use caregivers' emotional expressions to guide their behavior in novel, ambiguous situations. This skill, known as social referencing, likely involves at least 3 separate abilities: (a) looking at an adult in an unfamiliar situation, (b) associating that adult's emotion with the novel situation, and (c) regulating their own emotions in response to the adult's emotional display. The authors measured each of these elements individually as well as how they related to each other. The results revealed that 12-month-olds allocated more attention, as indicated by event-related potential measures, to stimuli associated with negative adult emotion than to those associated with positive or neutral emotion. Infants' interaction with their caregiver was affected by adult emotional displays. In addition, how quickly infants referenced an adult predicted both their brain activity in response to pictures of stimuli associated with negative emotion as well as some aspects of their behavior regulation. The results are discussed with respect to their significance for understanding why infants reference and regulate their behavior in response to adult emotion. Suggestions for further research are provided.

Arousal↗