To anticipate other people’s behavioral intentions and respond to them at the right moment is cru... more To anticipate other people’s behavioral intentions and respond to them at the right moment is crucial for efficient social interaction. In the present study, we thus investigated how adults synchronize with emotional facial expressions. The participants had to synchronize their taps with a rhythmical sequence of faces and then continue tapping at the same rhythm without faces. Three inter-stimulus intervals (500, 700, and 900 ms) and six different facial expressions (disgust, neutrality, sadness, joy, anger, and fear) were tested. In the synchronization phase, no difference was observed between the different facial expressions, suggesting that the participants tap in synchrony with external rhythms in the presence of stimuli whatever their emotional characteristics. However, in the continuation phase, an emotion effect emerged, with the individual rhythms being faster for the facial expressions of fear and, to a lesser extent, anger than for the other facial expressions. The motor r...
Early Interaction and Developmental Psychopathology
Preterm birth entails that infants are born too early and that parents, in turn, become parents e... more Preterm birth entails that infants are born too early and that parents, in turn, become parents earlier than planned. The study of parent-infant interaction with a premature infant is vast and complex. Numerous variables concerning the infant, the parents, their interactions, and the environmental conditions in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) influence the parent-preterm interactive “system.”
Human newborns can propel themselves to their mother's breast when positioned skin to skin on... more Human newborns can propel themselves to their mother's breast when positioned skin to skin on her abdomen just after birth. For decades, researchers have considered this primitive crawling behavior a spinal reflex, immune to supra spinal control. However recent research suggest that neonatal crawling is already responsive to visual and olfactory stimuli processed at a supra spinal level. Here we report that a few hours post birth, French newborns can also modulate their crawling in response to their native language - a source of information that is processed supra-spinally. The crawling patterns of 23 French-born newborns were recorded on video and via an infra-red motion capture system during two randomly ordered 2-minute trials. The newborns were secured on a mini skateboard to facilitate arm and leg movements during their crawling propulsion. They heard a repetitive sequence of the same sentences either in French, their native language, or in English, a rhythmically different and hence discriminable unfamiliar language, on each trial. In French, compared to English, crawling was enhanced, with significantly more arm and leg steps and significantly more and larger trunk rotations in the cephalo-caudal axis. Moreover, newborns rotated their head and trunk toward the appropriate loud speaker when hearing French but not English. These preliminary findings suggest that newborn crawling is not a simple stereotyped reflex under spinal control, but a complex pattern that can be modulated in response to higher-order, supra-spinally-processed stimuli. The findings open fascinating questions about the range of stimuli to which newborn crawling is responsive. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
The fetal environment provides the fetus with multiple potential sources of rhythmic stimulation ... more The fetal environment provides the fetus with multiple potential sources of rhythmic stimulation that are not present in the NICU. Maternal breathing, heartbeats, walking, dancing, running, speaking, singing, etc., all bathe the fetus in an environment of varied rhythmic stimuli: vestibular, somatosensory, tactile, and auditory. In contrast, the NICU environment does not offer the same proportion of rhythmic stimulation. After analyzing the lack of rhythmic stimulation in the NICU, this review highlights the different proposals for vestibular and/or auditory rhythmic stimulation offered to preterm infants alone and with their parents. The focus is on the beneficial effects of auditory and vestibular stimulation involving both partners of the mother–infant dyad. A preliminary study on the influence of a skin-to-skin lullaby on the stability of maternal behavior and on the tonic emotional manifestations of the preterm infant is presented as an example. The review concludes with the im...
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01043 Early influence of auditory stimuli on upper-limb movements in youn... more doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01043 Early influence of auditory stimuli on upper-limb movements in young human infants: an overview
Les durees de moins d'une seconde sont impliquees dans un grand nombre d'activites, comme... more Les durees de moins d'une seconde sont impliquees dans un grand nombre d'activites, comme la musique et la production de rythmes. Etre synchronise avec son environnement est vital pour le developpement cognitif, emotionnel et sensori-moteur du jeune enfant. Le but de cette etude est d'explorer le traitement temporel des durees courtes au cours du developpement. Par une procedure adaptee aux jeunes enfants, nous avons analyse le tempo moteur spontane (TMS) et la synchronisation rythmique chez les nouveau-nes, les nourrissons et les tres jeunes enfants. Les resultats revelent que les enfants sont capables d'adapter leur reponse motrice a un tempo auditif. Cependant, le type de modification depend de l'âge et de la nature des informations temporelles presentes dans l'environnement (frequence du tempo, variation de frequence par rapport au tempo de base, etc.…). Les resultats sont interpretes en fonction des modeles developpementaux d'horloge interne. MOTS-CL...
The crawling behavior of sixty 2-day-old newborns was studied while they were supported prone on ... more The crawling behavior of sixty 2-day-old newborns was studied while they were supported prone on a mini skateboard and on a pediatric mattress without additional support. Analyses of the number and types of limb movements and their characteristics, the coactivation of limb pairs, and the displacement across the surface, revealed that newborns can crawl with locomotor patterns similar to those documented during quadrupedal locomotion in animals and human adults. This was particularly apparent on the skateboard. This discovery suggests that locomotor circuitry underlying quadrupedal locomotion develops during fetal life. Drawing upon other evidence for a quadrupedal organization underlying bipedal gait, we argue that early quadrupedal training may enhance interventions designed to hasten the onset of independent walking.
The aim of this study was to investigate auditory–visual temporal asynchrony in preterm infants u... more The aim of this study was to investigate auditory–visual temporal asynchrony in preterm infants using a habituation procedure coupled with an eye-tracking system in order to examine visual behavior accurately and determine specific visual areas of interest. Sixteen term infants, twelve low-risk near-term (LBW) preterm infants and eight Very Low Birth Weight (VLBW) preterm infants were tested at four months post term. Infants were habituated with an auditory–visual synchronic situation: a visual ball bounced back in synchrony with an auditory sound. In the test phase, an asynchronized situation and a synchronized situation were presented alternately three times. The results showed that VLBW infants spent more time looking at the target before being habituated compared to LBW preterm infants and full-term infants. Specific areas of interest showed that VLBW infants spent less time on the target than LBW and full-term infants and had a more heterogeneous visual exploration. Nevertheles...
Tres tot, l’enfant est capable de bouger en rythme, quand sa mere lui parle, ou quand il entend u... more Tres tot, l’enfant est capable de bouger en rythme, quand sa mere lui parle, ou quand il entend une musique, mais egalement de vocaliser en reponse aux paroles maternelles. Cette synchronisation lui permet de communiquer et d’interagir avec son environnement. Cette capacite precoce de synchronisation est consideree comme un des fondements des interactions sociales et serait specifique aux especes animales capables d’utiliser les apprentissages vocaux pour communiquer. Pour etre capable de synchronisation, l’enfant doit non seulement percevoir les stimulations rythmiques de son environnement, mais aussi produire ses propres activites motrices rythmiques et les synchroniser a ces stimulations externes. Il doit pour cela anticiper l’arrivee de la stimulation rythmique pour repondre au bon moment. La synchronisation de l’enfant a son environnement, si importante qu’elle soit pour lui, n’en demeure pas moins une activite complexe qui requiert des capacites de perception et de production temporelle, d’anticipation et d’ajustement de la reponse au stimulus externe. Cette revue de question met l’accent sur les capacites du fœtus et du nouveau-ne a percevoir, a produire et a se synchroniser a des rythmes exterieurs. Les synchronisations sensori-motrices semblent jouer un role crucial dans les interactions sociales.
To anticipate other people’s behavioral intentions and respond to them at the right moment is cru... more To anticipate other people’s behavioral intentions and respond to them at the right moment is crucial for efficient social interaction. In the present study, we thus investigated how adults synchronize with emotional facial expressions. The participants had to synchronize their taps with a rhythmical sequence of faces and then continue tapping at the same rhythm without faces. Three inter-stimulus intervals (500, 700, and 900 ms) and six different facial expressions (disgust, neutrality, sadness, joy, anger, and fear) were tested. In the synchronization phase, no difference was observed between the different facial expressions, suggesting that the participants tap in synchrony with external rhythms in the presence of stimuli whatever their emotional characteristics. However, in the continuation phase, an emotion effect emerged, with the individual rhythms being faster for the facial expressions of fear and, to a lesser extent, anger than for the other facial expressions. The motor r...
Early Interaction and Developmental Psychopathology
Preterm birth entails that infants are born too early and that parents, in turn, become parents e... more Preterm birth entails that infants are born too early and that parents, in turn, become parents earlier than planned. The study of parent-infant interaction with a premature infant is vast and complex. Numerous variables concerning the infant, the parents, their interactions, and the environmental conditions in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) influence the parent-preterm interactive “system.”
Human newborns can propel themselves to their mother's breast when positioned skin to skin on... more Human newborns can propel themselves to their mother's breast when positioned skin to skin on her abdomen just after birth. For decades, researchers have considered this primitive crawling behavior a spinal reflex, immune to supra spinal control. However recent research suggest that neonatal crawling is already responsive to visual and olfactory stimuli processed at a supra spinal level. Here we report that a few hours post birth, French newborns can also modulate their crawling in response to their native language - a source of information that is processed supra-spinally. The crawling patterns of 23 French-born newborns were recorded on video and via an infra-red motion capture system during two randomly ordered 2-minute trials. The newborns were secured on a mini skateboard to facilitate arm and leg movements during their crawling propulsion. They heard a repetitive sequence of the same sentences either in French, their native language, or in English, a rhythmically different and hence discriminable unfamiliar language, on each trial. In French, compared to English, crawling was enhanced, with significantly more arm and leg steps and significantly more and larger trunk rotations in the cephalo-caudal axis. Moreover, newborns rotated their head and trunk toward the appropriate loud speaker when hearing French but not English. These preliminary findings suggest that newborn crawling is not a simple stereotyped reflex under spinal control, but a complex pattern that can be modulated in response to higher-order, supra-spinally-processed stimuli. The findings open fascinating questions about the range of stimuli to which newborn crawling is responsive. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
The fetal environment provides the fetus with multiple potential sources of rhythmic stimulation ... more The fetal environment provides the fetus with multiple potential sources of rhythmic stimulation that are not present in the NICU. Maternal breathing, heartbeats, walking, dancing, running, speaking, singing, etc., all bathe the fetus in an environment of varied rhythmic stimuli: vestibular, somatosensory, tactile, and auditory. In contrast, the NICU environment does not offer the same proportion of rhythmic stimulation. After analyzing the lack of rhythmic stimulation in the NICU, this review highlights the different proposals for vestibular and/or auditory rhythmic stimulation offered to preterm infants alone and with their parents. The focus is on the beneficial effects of auditory and vestibular stimulation involving both partners of the mother–infant dyad. A preliminary study on the influence of a skin-to-skin lullaby on the stability of maternal behavior and on the tonic emotional manifestations of the preterm infant is presented as an example. The review concludes with the im...
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01043 Early influence of auditory stimuli on upper-limb movements in youn... more doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01043 Early influence of auditory stimuli on upper-limb movements in young human infants: an overview
Les durees de moins d'une seconde sont impliquees dans un grand nombre d'activites, comme... more Les durees de moins d'une seconde sont impliquees dans un grand nombre d'activites, comme la musique et la production de rythmes. Etre synchronise avec son environnement est vital pour le developpement cognitif, emotionnel et sensori-moteur du jeune enfant. Le but de cette etude est d'explorer le traitement temporel des durees courtes au cours du developpement. Par une procedure adaptee aux jeunes enfants, nous avons analyse le tempo moteur spontane (TMS) et la synchronisation rythmique chez les nouveau-nes, les nourrissons et les tres jeunes enfants. Les resultats revelent que les enfants sont capables d'adapter leur reponse motrice a un tempo auditif. Cependant, le type de modification depend de l'âge et de la nature des informations temporelles presentes dans l'environnement (frequence du tempo, variation de frequence par rapport au tempo de base, etc.…). Les resultats sont interpretes en fonction des modeles developpementaux d'horloge interne. MOTS-CL...
The crawling behavior of sixty 2-day-old newborns was studied while they were supported prone on ... more The crawling behavior of sixty 2-day-old newborns was studied while they were supported prone on a mini skateboard and on a pediatric mattress without additional support. Analyses of the number and types of limb movements and their characteristics, the coactivation of limb pairs, and the displacement across the surface, revealed that newborns can crawl with locomotor patterns similar to those documented during quadrupedal locomotion in animals and human adults. This was particularly apparent on the skateboard. This discovery suggests that locomotor circuitry underlying quadrupedal locomotion develops during fetal life. Drawing upon other evidence for a quadrupedal organization underlying bipedal gait, we argue that early quadrupedal training may enhance interventions designed to hasten the onset of independent walking.
The aim of this study was to investigate auditory–visual temporal asynchrony in preterm infants u... more The aim of this study was to investigate auditory–visual temporal asynchrony in preterm infants using a habituation procedure coupled with an eye-tracking system in order to examine visual behavior accurately and determine specific visual areas of interest. Sixteen term infants, twelve low-risk near-term (LBW) preterm infants and eight Very Low Birth Weight (VLBW) preterm infants were tested at four months post term. Infants were habituated with an auditory–visual synchronic situation: a visual ball bounced back in synchrony with an auditory sound. In the test phase, an asynchronized situation and a synchronized situation were presented alternately three times. The results showed that VLBW infants spent more time looking at the target before being habituated compared to LBW preterm infants and full-term infants. Specific areas of interest showed that VLBW infants spent less time on the target than LBW and full-term infants and had a more heterogeneous visual exploration. Nevertheles...
Tres tot, l’enfant est capable de bouger en rythme, quand sa mere lui parle, ou quand il entend u... more Tres tot, l’enfant est capable de bouger en rythme, quand sa mere lui parle, ou quand il entend une musique, mais egalement de vocaliser en reponse aux paroles maternelles. Cette synchronisation lui permet de communiquer et d’interagir avec son environnement. Cette capacite precoce de synchronisation est consideree comme un des fondements des interactions sociales et serait specifique aux especes animales capables d’utiliser les apprentissages vocaux pour communiquer. Pour etre capable de synchronisation, l’enfant doit non seulement percevoir les stimulations rythmiques de son environnement, mais aussi produire ses propres activites motrices rythmiques et les synchroniser a ces stimulations externes. Il doit pour cela anticiper l’arrivee de la stimulation rythmique pour repondre au bon moment. La synchronisation de l’enfant a son environnement, si importante qu’elle soit pour lui, n’en demeure pas moins une activite complexe qui requiert des capacites de perception et de production temporelle, d’anticipation et d’ajustement de la reponse au stimulus externe. Cette revue de question met l’accent sur les capacites du fœtus et du nouveau-ne a percevoir, a produire et a se synchroniser a des rythmes exterieurs. Les synchronisations sensori-motrices semblent jouer un role crucial dans les interactions sociales.
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