Nipple properties affect sensorimotor integration during bottle feeding in an infant pig model.

ABSTRACT: Infant feeding is a critical neurological milestone in development defined by the coordination of muscles, peripheral nerves, and brainstem nuclei. In infants, milk flow rate is often limited to improve feeding performance without treating the underlying deficiencies in the sucking and swallowing processes. Modification of the neuromotor response via sensory information from the nipple during bottle feeding is an unexplored avenue for physiology-based interventions. In this study, we assessed how differences in nipple hole size and nipple stiffness affect sucking muscle activation and subsequent movement. We fabricated four bottle nipples of varying hole size and stiffness to determine how variation in nipple properties affects the sucking behavior of infant pigs. Our results demonstrate t

SUBMITTER: Johnson ML 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10528713 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature