A novel two-body sensor system to study spontaneous movements in infants during caregiver physical contact

Publication date: November 2019Source: Infant Behavior and Development, Volume 57Author(s): Priya Patel, Yan Shi, Faezeh Hajiaghajani, Subir Biswas, Mei-Hua LeeAbstractSpontaneous movements, which refer to repetitive limb movements in the absence of any external stimulus, have been found to be reflective of neurodevelopmental status during infancy. These movements are modulated by both individual and environmental factors, including physical contact (holding) with the caregiver. However, it is a challenge to measure spontaneous movements during physical contact because infant-generated movements become coupled with caregiver-generated movements in such contexts. Here, we propose the use of a novel two-body sensor system to distinguish infant-generated movements in the presence of physical contact with the caregiver. Data from seven typically developing infants and their caregivers were recorded during different simulated home activities, which involved different combinations of physical interaction, caregiver’s movement and infant positions. The two-body sensor system consisted of two wearable accelerometers – one placed on the infant’s arm and one on the caregiver’s arm, and we developed a Kalman-filter based algorithm to isolate the infant-generated movements. In addition, video was recorded for qualitative analysis. Results indicated that spontaneous movement activity was higher when there was no physical contact with caregiver. When there was physical contact, spo...
Source: Infant Behavior and Development - Category: Child Development Source Type: research