Evaluating the association between early gross motor abilities recorded with a multi-sensor wearable jumpsuit and later neurocognitive development at two years of age

Each year many new-borns are at risk for long-term developmental deficits due to adverse perinatal events. Early gross motor abilities have been shown to link with cognitive development and studying infant motor behaviour may provide means to assess global neurodevelopment. This thesis aims to explore a potential association between early gross motor abilities recorded at infancy with a multi-sensor wearable jumpsuit MAIJU and later neurocognitive development assessed at two years of age. The study sample (N=26) consisted of healthy full-term infants and those with prematurity or perinatal asphyxia. Spontaneous motor activity was recorded at home with the jumpsuit. Machine learning methods were used to quantitate the time infants spent in different postures and estimate the maturity of their motor abilities, which were compared to cognitive development at two years of age with correlational- and regression analyses. There was a positive trend between early motor abilities and later cognitive development. Specifically, standing posture explained the association, such that infants who spent more time standing had better cognitive abilities at two years of age. Standing may support cognitive development by increasing opportunities for visual and manual exploration and learning. Shared neuronal circuitries for motor and cognitive functions and faster neuronal maturation may also underlie the association. The current study supports the creation of future studies with larger sample sizes to establish the potential for the use of postural and movement information obtained from wearable jumpsuit MAIJU to assess the variability of neurocognitive development of at risk and typical infants with potential goal to identify future cognitive deficits at early stage.