Deficits in Top-Down Sensory Prediction in Infants At Risk due to Premature Birth.

ABSTRACT: A prominent theoretical view is that the brain is inherently predictive [1, 2] and that prediction helps drive the engine of development [3, 4]. Although infants exhibit neural signatures of top-down sensory prediction [5, 6], in order to establish that prediction supports development, it must be established that deficits in early prediction abilities alter trajectories. We investigated prediction in infants born prematurely, a leading cause of neuro-cognitive impairment worldwide [7]. Prematurity, independent of medical complications, leads to developmental disturbances [8-12] and a broad range of developmental delays [13-17]. Is an alteration in early prediction abilities the common cause? Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), we measured top-down sensory prediction in pre

SUBMITTER: Emberson LL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5508567 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature