Evidence of early development of action planning in the human foetus: a kinematic study |
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| Authors: | Stefania Zoia Laura Blason Giuseppina D’Ottavio Maria Bulgheroni Eva Pezzetta Aldo Scabar Umberto Castiello |
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| Affiliation: | (1) Department of Pediatrics, Child Neurology and Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Child Health IRCCS, Burlo Garofolo, via Dell’Istria, 65/1, Trieste, 34137, Italy;(2) Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Unit for Prenatal Diagnosis, Institute of Child Health IRCCS, Burlo Garofolo, 34137 Trieste, Italy;(3) Department of General Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Padua, via Venezia, 10-35131 Padua, Italy;(4) Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, , Surrey, UK |
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| Abstract: | ![]()
The aim of the present study was to investigate whether foetal hand movements are planned and how they are executed. We performed a kinematic analysis of hand movements directed towards the mouth and the eyes in the foetuses of eight women with normally evolving pregnancies. At 14, 18 and 22 weeks of gestation, eight foetuses underwent a 20-min four-dimensional-ultrasound session. The video recordings for these movements were then imported into in-house software developed to perform kinematic analysis. We found that spatial and temporal characteristics of foetal movements are by no means uncoordinated or unpatterned. By 22 weeks of gestation the movements seem to show the recognizable form of intentional actions, with kinematic patterns that depend on the goal of the action, suggesting a surprisingly advanced level of motor planning. |
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| Keywords: | Reaching Hand movements Human foetus Kinematic analysis Early development |
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