Spontaneous Rem Behaviors in a Microcephalic Infant
- 1 June 1972
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Perceptual and Motor Skills
- Vol. 34 (3) , 827-833
- https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.1972.34.3.827
Abstract
A microcephalic human newborn exhibited a repertoire of spontaneous REM behaviors, including REM smiling, at rates characteristic of a normal newborn comparison group. Cyclical alternations between behavioral REM and non-REM states were also documented. A detailed post-mortem examination supported an inference that this infant had severely impaired functioning of cerebral cortex and limbic system during its brief postuterine life. The findings support a tentative conclusion that the observed spontaneous REM behaviors are mediated through the brain stem and that cerebral structures, including the limbic system, are not necessary for this mediation. The findings are also consistent with previous evidence that the seat of organization of REM and non-REM sleep is in the brain stem.Keywords
This publication has 6 references indexed in Scilit:
- ENDOGENOUS AND EXOGENOUS SMILING SYSTEMS IN EARLY INFANCYJournal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 1972
- AN ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHIC STUDY OF BEHAVIORAL RAPID EYE MOVEMENT STATES IN THE HUMAN NEWBORNJournal of Nervous & Mental Disease, 1970
- NEONATAL SMILING, FROWNING, AND RAPID EYE MOVEMENT STATES: II. Sleep-Cycle StudyJournal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 1969
- NEONATAL SMILING AND RAPID EYE MOVEMENT STATESJournal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 1969
- A study of eye movements in sleeping newborn infantsBrain Research, 1967
- Ontogenetic Development of the Human Sleep-Dream CycleScience, 1966