Quantification of the Burst Phase during Non-Nutritive Suck Production in Preterm Infants

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Issue Date
2008-05-29Author
Urish, Mimi
Publisher
University of Kansas
Format
37 pages
Type
Thesis
Degree Level
M.S.
Discipline
Neurosciences
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This item is protected by copyright and unless otherwise specified the copyright of this thesis/dissertation is held by the author.
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Show full item recordAbstract
Premature birth places infants at increased risk for learning disabilities, delayed development of speech, language and motor skills, and mortality. The premature infant often has difficulties with respiration and feeding and therefore may remain in the hospital for prolonged periods of time. The non-nutritive suck (NNS) is a motor behavior which can be observed and used to make inference about brain development and organization in this young population. The purpose of this study was to quantify the frequency modulation of the NNS burst in two groups of preterm infants, including those with and those without respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). Thirty-two (32) preterm infants were consented and distributed into one of the following groups: Control (N=17) and RDS (N=15). Digitized samples of NNS compression pressure waveforms were collected 15 minutes prior to scheduled feedings on a weekly basis. Quadratic regression analysis revealed that healthy preterm infants produced longer NNS bursts and the mean burst initiation cycle periods were shorter when compared to the RDS group. Moreover, NNS burst initiation shows a prominent frequency modulated (FM) segment upon initiation which appears to be a significant feature of the suck central pattern generator (sCPG) and is markedly different for RDS preterm infants as compared to their healthy preterm counterparts. Identification of such characteristics provides specific criteria and description of the NNS CPG which may offer a new diagnostic criterion which can be used to gauge the developmental status of oromotor control systems among these fragile infants.
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- Molecular Biosciences Dissertations and Theses [270]
- Theses [3772]
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