Abstract
We present a dataset of cortical, behavioural, and physiological responses following a single, clinically required noxious stimulus in a neonatal sample. Cortical activity was recorded from 112 neonates (29–47 weeks gestational age at study) using a 20-channel electroencephalogram (EEG), which was time-locked to a heel lance. This data is linked to pain-related behaviour (facial expression), physiology (heart rate, oxygenation) and a composite clinical score (Premature Infant Pain Profile, PIPP). The dataset includes responses to non-noxious sham and auditory controls. The infants’ relevant medical and pain history was collected up to the day of the study and recorded in an extensive database of variables including clinical condition at birth, diagnoses, medications, previous painful procedures, injuries, and selected maternal information. This dataset can be used to investigate the cortical, physiological, and behavioural pain-related processing in human infants and to evaluate the impact of medical conditions and experiences upon the infant response to noxious stimuli. Furthermore, it provides information on the formation of individual pain phenotypes.
Highlights
Background & SummaryWorldwide 5–18% of babies are born before term age[1] (37 weeks) and many remain in hospital for some time following birth (mean neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) stay, 9.1 days[2])
Worldwide 5–18% of babies are born before term age[1] (37 weeks) and many remain in hospital for some time following birth (mean neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) stay, 9.1 days2)
Significant advancement in the understanding of processing of pain in the infant nervous system has come from several imaging techniques such as electroencephalography (EEG)[7,8,9], near infra-red spectroscopy (NIRS)[10,11,12], and functional magnetic resonance imagining[13,14]
Summary
Worldwide 5–18% of babies are born before term age[1] (37 weeks) and many remain in hospital for some time following birth (mean neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) stay, 9.1 days[2]). Many factors affect an individual’s sensitivity to a noxious stimulus, even at the beginning of life Both the level of stress[8] and the sex of the infant[20] have recently been shown to be factors determining painrelated activity in the brain. During their hospital stay, the severity of illness influences neonatal painrelated behaviour[21]: a diagnosis of jaundice can result in delayed cortical somatosensory processing[22], and infections can lead to an increase in pain sensitivity[23,24]. The accompanying database of neonatal and maternal information combined with behavioural and physiological responses to both painful and control stimuli, allows initial exploration of factors that influence pain sensitivity
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