| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
SHIROZU Hiroaki Kyushu Univ., Faculty of Medicine Dept.of Gyn/Ob, Lecturer, 医学部, 助手 (00284498)
SATOH Shoji Kyushu Univ., Faculty of Medicine Dept.of Gyn/Ob, Assistant Professor, 医学部, 講師 (00225947)
NABEKURA Junichi Kyushu Univ., Faculty of Medicine Dept.of Physiology Associate Professor, 医学部, 助教授 (50237583)
KOYANAGI Takashi Kyushu Univ., Faculty of Medicine Dept.of Gyn/Ob, Associate Professor, 医学部, 助教授 (30136452)
井上 善仁 九州大学, 医学部, 助手 (20260698)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥7,600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥7,600,000)
Fiscal Year 1996: ¥2,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,100,000)
Fiscal Year 1995: ¥2,500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,500,000)
Fiscal Year 1994: ¥3,000,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,000,000)
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| Research Abstract |
From this study on the correlation and concurrence of various movements in the human fetus, the physiological development of behavior is evident to be comparable to the neurological process as seen in the animal experiments : 1)Focusing on human ontogenesis, the controlling center of ultradian rhythm (such as eye movement (EM)/no-eye movement (NEM) period alternation or fetal heart rate (FHR) variation), lying in the ponto-medullar region, starts to function at around 30 weeks' gestation and reaches maturation at term. As for circadian rhythm in the fetus, the biological clock generating FHR change appears to be enhanced by maternal environmental factors at term. 2)With regard to the sleep and waking states in the human fetus, similar movement correlations have been made with neonates : Both slow eye movement coexisting with rapid eye movement at 33 weeks' gestation onwards, and penile tumescence relating to the EM period as well, suggest that the generating center of REM sleep in the
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pons is functioning. At 35 weeks onwards, regular mouthing movement concurrent with the NEM period indicates that this period is comparable to NREM sleep, thereby suggesting that the neural area, responsible for NREM sleep, from pons through the thalamocortical pathway to the cerebral hemisphere may begin to function from 35 weeks' gestation. All of these findings indicate that even in the human fetus, central nervous system function develops from the caudal to rostral segments, in that order. Findings from FHR changes in ancncephalic fetuses support this theory. In term fetuses, pupillary dilatation is closely related to the EM period, providing a clue to its correlation with waking states in the human fetus. 3) The temporal relationship between the onset of EM period and micturition at term may be interpreted by the anatomical proximity of control parts of both phenomena in the pons, interacting during the course of development. Difference in eye movement direction between cephalic and breech fetuses is also a characteristic phenomenon during intrauterine life, presently awaiting neuroethological explanation. 4) By assessing fetal behavioral patterns at term, it is possible to prenatally identify brainstem lesions at or caudal to the pons-medulla as well as diffuse lesions spreading from the upper brainstem to the cerebral hemispheres. As shown in this study, the accumulation of data on the developmental process of behavior in normal fetuses has enabled to detect various abnormal movements in utero, and also to comprehend these abnormalities in relation to impaired lesions in the cental nervous system after birth. These cases have led one to believe that they are the model of a match between the manifestation of a particular individual motor activity and its correlated brain function, in the human fetus. The localization of lesion sites by observation of behavior, however, is limited to the brainstem, as there still remain problems to be clucidated whether central Less
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