Jill Heathcock

Motor and Voice Markers of Neurodevelopmental Delays in Infants

Neonatal screening allows for better care of children from birth. However, the detection of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) at birth is not very well developed, and the average age of diagnosis is still well above 2 years. NDD describes a range of disorders affecting the development of the central nervous system (CNS), often starting in utero. The French National Authority for Health (HAS) recommends the earliest possible detection of children at risk of NDD, by identifying risk factors, particularly for premature newborns. Although the detection of NDD is theoretically possible, objective markers indicating an atypical neurodevelopmental trajectory from birth are lacking. Spontaneous behavioral productions such as body movements and vocalizations are a window on the development of the CNS, but these have not been well evaluated in infants. MOVIN is a bicentric multidisciplinary project whose goal is to determine whether these spontaneous behavioral productions could be indicators of an atypical neurodevelopmental trajectory. The vocal and motor profiles obtained will be matched with neurodevelopmental profiles assessed at different times (3, 9, 12 and 18 months of age) by a battery of parental questionnaires, recommended by Health Agencies for monitoring infants at risk. It is expected that two subgroups of infants will be identified using audio-video recordings in correlation with the neurodevelopmental profiles. This exploratory project is the first step towards a larger project aimed at identifying ultra-early markers of NDD.

Adding movement analysis to detect neurodevelopmental impairments in infants of obese mothers

Obesity during pregnancy is a public health concern because there are adverse consequences for the mother and the infant. Infants of mothers who are obese are at risk for neurodevelopmental disabilities. The most promising target to improve outcomes for the child is through early identification of disability. One of the most challenging issues in health and medicine is the accurate identification of disability during the infancy period -- before babies are able to walk and talk. General Movement Analysis (GMA) is an objective measure of spontaneous movement used to detect poor neurodevelopment. We will implement the GMA in Tours in order to identify risk factors for poor neurodevelopment much earlier than is currently possible. This project will test 200 infants (100 infants of obese mothers, and 100 infants of mothers with health weight) at birth, 3.5 months of age, and 24 months of age over 4 years. It is important to follow infants and families over time to see how they develop communication and motor skills.