Abstract
Facial somatosensory feedback is critical for breastfeeding in the first days of life. However, its development has never been investigated in humans. Here we develop a new interface to measure facial somatosensation in newborn infants. The novel system allows to measure neuronal responses to touching the face of the subject by synchronously recording scalp electroencephalography (EEG) and the force applied by the experimenter. This is based on a dedicated force transducer that can be worn on the finger underneath a clinical nitrile glove and linked to a commercial EEG acquisition system. The calibrated device measures the pressure applied by the investigator when tapping the skin concurrently with the resulting brain response. With this system, we were able to demonstrate that taps of 192 mN (mean) reliably elicited facial somatosensory responses in 7 pre-term infants. These responses had a time course similar to those following limbs stimulation, but more lateral topographical distribution consistent with body representations in primary somatosensory areas. The method introduced can therefore be used to reliably measure facial somatosensory responses in vulnerable infants.
Highlights
Facial somatosensation is critical for breastfeeding [1] and for appropriate weight gain in the first weeks of life [2]
We were able to demonstrate that taps of 192 mN reliably elicited facial somatosensory responses in 7 pre-term infants
In very pre-term infants, born up to three months early, breastfeeding can be suboptimal resulting in insufficient weight gain [3]
Summary
Facial somatosensation is critical for breastfeeding [1] and for appropriate weight gain in the first weeks of life [2]. In very pre-term infants, born up to three months early, breastfeeding can be suboptimal resulting in insufficient weight gain [3]. This is possibly because very preterm birth can be associated with injury to afferent pathways, which may compromise the sensory feedback and cues normally provided by newborn feeding behaviours such as mouth gaping, licking and jaw jerking [4,5]. Eu/commission/index_en), and by the UK EPSRC MOTION grant EP/NO29003/1 The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript
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