Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 3 February 1995:
Vol. 267. no. 5198, pp. 693 - 695
DOI: 10.1126/science.7839147
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

Science, Vol 267, Issue 5198, 693-695
Copyright © 1995 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

The functional significance of arm movements in neonates

AL van der Meer, FR van der Weel, and DN Lee

Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, UK.

Arm movements made by newborn babies are usually dismissed as unintentional, purposeless, or reflexive. Spontaneous arm-waving movements were recorded while newborns lay supine facing to one side. They were allowed to see only the arm they were facing, only the opposite arm on a video monitor, or neither arm. Small forces pulled on their wrists in the direction of the toes. The babies opposed the perturbing force so as to keep an arm up and moving normally, but only when they could see the arm, either directly or on the video monitor. The findings indicate that newborns can purposely control their arm movements in the face of external forces and that development of visual control of arm movement is underway soon after birth.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Learning Cross-Modal Spatial Transformations through Spike Timing-Dependent Plasticity.
A. P. Davison and Y. Fregnac (2006)
J. Neurosci. 26, 5604-5615
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Eye-Hand Coordination during Learning of a Novel Visuomotor Task.
U. Sailer, J. R. Flanagan, and R. S. Johansson (2005)
J. Neurosci. 25, 8833-8842
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Corticospinal System: From Development to Motor Control.
J. H. Martin (2005)
Neuroscientist 11, 161-173
   Abstract »    PDF »
Learning Invariant Sensorimotor Behaviors: A Developmental Approach to Imitation Mechanisms.
P. Andry, P. Gaussier, J. Nadel, and B. Hirsbrunner (2004)
Adaptive Behavior 12, 117-140
   Abstract »    PDF »
Corticospinal System Development Depends on Motor Experience.
J. H. Martin, M. Choy, S. Pullman, and Z. Meng (2004)
J. Neurosci. 24, 2122-2132
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Book Review: Gain Modulation in the Central Nervous System: Where Behavior, Neurophysiology, and Computation Meet.
E. Salinas and T. J. Sejnowski (2001)
Neuroscientist 7, 430-440
   Abstract »    PDF »
A milestone for normal development of the infantile brain detected by functional MRI.
H. Yamada, N. Sadato, Y. Konishi, S. Muramoto, K. Kimura, M. Tanaka, Y. Yonekura, Y. Ishii, and H. Itoh (2000)
Neurology 55, 218-223
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Impairments in Prehension Produced by Early Postnatal Sensory Motor Cortex Activity Blockade.
J. H. Martin, L. Donarummo, and A. Hacking (2000)
J Neurophysiol 83, 895-906
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)