Investigation of the development of cortico-respiratory activity interactions in neonates during sleep

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24791123
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Embryonic/Neonatal medicine
• Research Institution: Japan Women's University
• Principal Investigator: Ota Mariko 日本女子大学, 人間社会学部, 助教 (50599412)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 脳・神経 / 新生児発達 / 呼吸 / 自律神経 / 脳波 / 皮質血行動態

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The aim of this research is to evaluate the development of neonatal cortical activities contributing to the regulation of respiratory activities. We especially focused on reciprocal cortico-respiratory interactions while hearing the mother's voice, and simultaneously recorded respiratory chest movements, heart rate, electroencephalographic activity, and cerebral hemoglobin concentration changes in near-term and full-term neonates. The results suggest that hearing the mother's voice promotes the slow increase in respiratory rate associated with high-level attention and it also softens the rapid increase in respiratory rate. These effects of the mother's voice on respiratory activity seem to be mediated by the high-order function in the neonatal prefrontal cortex, and the neural function for respiratory regulation may be sufficiently developed by 38-week old.

Free Research Field

認知神経科学，生理心理学