Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Somatic Stimulation Causes Frontoparietal Cortical Changes In Neonates: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study, Nasser H. Kashou, Irfaan Akram Dar, Kathryn Hasenstab, Ramzi W. Nahhas, Sudarshan R. Jadcherla

Biomedical, Industrial & Human Factors Engineering Faculty Publications

Palmar and plantar grasp are the foremost primitive neonatal reflexes and functions. Persistence of these reflexes in infancy is a sign of evolving cerebral palsy. Our aims were to establish measurement feasibility in a clinical setting and to characterize changes in oxyhemoglobin (HbO) and deoxyhemoglobin (HbD) concentration in the bilateral frontoparietal cortex in unsedated neonates at the crib-side using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). We hypothesized that bilateral concentration changes will occur upon somatic central and peripheral somatic stimulation. Thirteen preterm neonates (five males) underwent time 1, and six (two males) returned for time 2 (mean PMA ¼ 41.6 and 47.0 …