Daytime sleep stage organization in three-month-old infantsOrganisation des stades de sommeil de jour chez le nourrisson de 3 mois☆

https://doi.org/10.1016/0013-4694(82)90104-3Get rights and content

Abstract

Sleep monitoring at 3 months post term of clinically normal term infants, pre-term infants with no demonstrable pathologic clinical signs, and pre-term and term infants with a history of metabolic disorders show that these infants have EEG sleep stages resembling those seen in adults, as well as the adult pattern of sleep stage organization. The presence of NREM stage organization and stage sequencing suggest that sleep regulatory mechanisms are approaching a level of functional maturity in the human infant at 3 months post term. There is a significant relationship between sleep staging at 3 months post term and mental and motor performance at 12 months post term. In light of this, it is hypothesized that early bioelectric maturation may reflect the development of neural mechanisms which are also the substrate for later cognitive and behavioral functioning. Sleep stage organization at 3 months post term may be utilized as a benchmark of CNS development and for research on the pathophysiology of sleep disorders.

Résumé

L'observation du sommeil chez des enfants de 3 mois soit nés à terme et cliniquement normaux, soit prématurés ne présentant aucun signe pathologique clinique, soit prématurés ou nés à terme et présentant des troubles du métabolisme, montre chez tous ces enfants une organisation en stades du sommeil semblable à celle de l'adulte. L'existence de cette organisation en stades du sommeil lent suggère que les mécanismes régulateurs du sommeil approchent la maturité fonctionnelle chez l'enfant humain de 3 mois. Il y a une relation significative entre l'existence de ces stades du sommeil à 3 mois et l'activité motrice et mentale à 12 mois. Donc on peut avancer comme hypothèse que la maturation bio-électrique précoce peut refléter le développement des mécanismes neuroniques qui plus tard serviront de support aux fonctions comportementales et cognitives. L'organisation du sommeil en stades à l'âge de 3 mois peut donc être utilisée comme un repère du développement du SNC et peut servir à la recherche physiopathologique des troubles du sommeil.

References (34)

  • T. Anders et al.

    Sleep and its disorders in infants and children: a review

    Pediatrics

    (1972)
  • N. Bayley

    Bayley Scales of Infant Development

    (1969)
  • P.T. Becker et al.

    Rapid eye movement storms in infants: rate of occurrence at 6 months predicts mental development at 1 year

    Science

    (1981)
  • C. Dreyfus-Brisac et al.

    The EEG during the first year of life

  • R.J. Ellingson

    The EEGs of prematures and full-term newborns

  • R.J. Ellingson et al.

    Development of EEG and daytime sleep patterns in Trisomy-21 infants during the first year of life: longitudinal observations

    Electroenceph. clin. Neurophysiol.

    (1980)

    • Cited by (0)

    ☆

    Supported by NICHD Grant HD 09981 and NINCDS RR08125-07 MBS Program DRR, Joseph F. Straub Trust and University of Hawaii Computing Center.

    4

    We appreciate the critical reviews by Drs. Robert N. Emde, University of Colorado, Jeffrey B. Gould, Boston University School of Medicine, Toke Hoppenbrouwers, Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Medical Center, and Arthur H. Parmelee, University of California at Los Angeles on an earlier manuscript; many of their comments have been incorporated in the present article.

    3

    Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Medical Center, Los Angeles, Calif., U.S.A.

    View full text
    Copyright © 1982 Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.