Newborns were presented with a tape-recorded rattle sound through a single loudspeaker, through two loudspeakers with one onset leading the other by seven msecs., and through two loudspeakers simultaneously. Newborns turned toward the single source sound, but not toward either of the dual source sounds. (Author/RH)

The infants of the adolescent mothers were found to be significantly less capable of responding to social stimuli, to be less alert, and to be less able to control motor behavior and to perform integrated motor activities than were the infants of older mothers. Journal availability: J. B. Lippincott Co., E. Washington Sq., Philadelphia, PA 19105.…

The model program described was designed to provide teenage mothers with knowledge and skills needed to successfully cope with caring for their infants. (JD)

Factors such as gestational age and birthweight were compared in a follow-up study of 66 neonates with diarrhea and two groups of infants--one with low birthweight, one with optimal birthweight. Among findings was that low birthweight was found to correlate with low test scores on visual perception regardless of whether the infants had had…

In one experiment, sucrose arrested crying and reduced heart rate and gross activity in 2-week-olds but was ineffective in calming 4-week-olds unless accompanied by eye contact. In a second experiment, for 4-week-olds who received sucrose without eye contact or water with eye contact, the reduction in crying was modest and not sustained.…

Some infants experience unusual stress from pregnancy through the postnatal period and are especially called upon to exercise coping responses. Discusses unusual stressors, how the infant naturally copes with them, and how caregivers can provide assistance. Reviews studies on stress-relieving intervention techniques. (NH)

Reports that, even though young infants can discriminate among different facial expressions, there are individual differences in infants' expressivity and ability to produce and discriminate facial expressions. (PCB)

Among 36 newborns, Infant Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ) activity level, responsivity, and irritability exhibited stability from 2 weeks to 2 months and from 2 months to 12 months. Irritability was stable from 2 weeks to 12 months. IBQ ratings generally increased by year's end. (RH)

Newborns were habituated to white squares of varying size and luminance and retested with colored squares for recovery of habituation. Newborns could discriminate yellow-green from white in large squares, but not in small squares. They could not discriminate blue, blue-green, or purple from white. Results suggest newborns have little…

Baseline and heelstick measures of behavioral state, heart period, vagal tone, and salivary cortisol were obtained from 50 full-term newborns. Mothers completed Rothbart's Infant Behavior Questionnaire when the infants reached six months of age. Greater reactivity to the heelstick was associated with lower scores on the…

This study of healthy 39-week-old infants, so-called term infants, and chronically stressed 42-week-old infants, so-called postmature infants, showed that sucrose was extremely effective in calming term infants but less effective in calming postmature infants. Results supported the hypothesis that sucrose engages an opioid system in infants. (BG)

Simultaneous auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) to click stimuli at 30 and 60 decibels were recorded from 16 full-term neonates with 4 different electrode arrays. Results indicated that ABR waveforms were morphologically similar to those recorded in adults. Waveform expression was variable with different electrode recording montages. (Author/DB)

The development of feeding and swallowing is the result of a complex interface between the developing nervous system, various physiological systems, and the environment. The purpose of this article is to review the neurobiology, development, and assessment of feeding and swallowing during early infancy. In recent years, there have been exciting…

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate retrospectively neonatal health and maternal background among a sample of children taken into custody and placed in foster care and to investigate the relation between medical and social risk in the neonatal period. Method: The data-linkage study combined two registries: the Finnish Medical…

There is an increasing awareness that the astrocytes in the immature periventricular white matter are vulnerable to ischemia and respond to inflammation. Here we provide a synopsis of the articles that have evaluated the causes and consequences of developmental brain injuries to white matter astrocytes as well as the consequences of several…