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. 2023 Feb 28;23(5):2653.
doi: 10.3390/s23052653.

Motor Overflow during Reaching in Infancy: Quantification of Limb Movement Using Inertial Motion Units

Agata Kozioł  1   2 , David López Pérez  1 , Zuzanna Laudańska  1   2 , Anna Malinowska-Korczak  1 , Karolina Babis  1 , Oleksandra Mykhailova  1 , Hana D'Souza  3 , Przemysław Tomalski  1
Affiliations

Motor Overflow during Reaching in Infancy: Quantification of Limb Movement Using Inertial Motion Units

Agata Kozioł et al. Sensors (Basel). .

Abstract

Early in life, infants exhibit motor overflow, which can be defined as the generation of involuntary movements accompanying purposeful actions. We present the results of a quantitative study exploring motor overflow in 4-month-old infants. This is the first study quantifying motor overflow with high accuracy and precision provided by Inertial Motion Units. The study aimed to investigate the motor activity across the non-acting limbs during goal-directed action. To this end, we used wearable motion trackers to measure infant motor activity during a baby-gym task designed to capture overflow during reaching movements. The analysis was conducted on the subsample of participants (n = 20), who performed at least four reaches during the task. A series of Granger causality tests revealed that the activity differed depending on the non-acting limb and the type of the reaching movement. Importantly, on average, the non-acting arm preceded the activation of the acting arm. In contrast, the activity of the acting arm was followed by the activation of the legs. This may be caused by their distinct purposes in supporting postural stability and efficiency of movement execution. Finally, our findings demonstrate the utility of wearable motion trackers for precise measurement of infant movement dynamics.

Keywords: inertial motion units; infants; motor development; motor overflow; wearables.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(A) An infant during the baby-gym task. The position of sensors on the arms and legs are marked with blue dots; (B) sample picture of a participant wearing motion trackers. Acquired with permission from BabyLab PAN. The signed permission of the caregiver was acquired for the publication of both images.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Example of the activation of the right and left infant arm during all reaching movements throughout the task.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Acceleration of the acting hand with (A) the non-acting arm and (B) legs mean, averaged across all reaching movements (n = 184). The plot displays activity two seconds before and two seconds after the onset of the reaching movement (marked by a red, dashed line at time = 0). The standard deviation has not been added to the plot to improve clarity.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Acceleration of the acting hand with (A) the non-acting arm and (B) legs mean, averaged across reaching movements that ended with a grasp (n = 89). The plot displays activity two seconds before and two seconds after the onset of the reaching movement (marked by red, dashed line at time = 0). The standard deviation has not been added to the plot to improve clarity.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Acceleration of the acting hand with (A) the non-acting arm and (B) legs mean, averaged across reaching movements that ended with a touch (n = 61). The plot displays activity two seconds before and two seconds after the reach onset (marked by red, dashed line at time = 0). The standard deviation has not been added to the plot to improve clarity.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Acceleration of the acting hand with (A) the non-acting arm and (B) legs mean, averaged across unsuccessful reaching movements (n = 34). The plot displays activity two seconds before and two seconds after the onset of the reaching movement (marked by red, dashed line at time = 0). The standard deviation has not been added to the plot to improve clarity.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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