Potential Evolutionary, Neurophysiological, and Developmental Origins of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and Inconsolable Crying (Colic): Is It About Controlling Breath?

Abstract

AbstractThe authors develop a conceptual, testable model suggesting lack of developmental synchrony between cortical and subcortical neural tracts necessary for breathing control underlying human vocalization (speech breathing), potentially leaving infants vulnerable to inconsolable crying. They propose that this lack of developmental synchrony also helps explain the human susceptibility to sudden infant death syndrome. Beginning around 1 month, during sleep and awake periods, infants gradually learn to shift between volitional and autonomic breathing control based on developing functional interconnections between cortical and subcortical neural networks. The existence of sudden infant death syndrome and inconsolable crying may reflect adaptive failures exacerbated by prolonged parent–infant separation, whether night or day, due to one or the other subsystem of neural networks and/or their functioning nuclei not being equally mature or able to sufficiently send, detect, or respond to signals provided by the other. Implications of these proposed models for family practice and family science research are examined.