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Early motor signs of autism spectrum disorder in spontaneous position and movement of the head

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Abstract

We examined the characteristics of spontaneous movements at 9–20 weeks postterm age in very low birth-weight infants who later developed autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We analyzed video recordings of spontaneous movements of 39 children who had no clinical issues [typically developing (TD) group], 21 children who showed developmental delay, and 14 children who were diagnosed with ASD (ASD group) at 6 years of age. Head position in each video frame was classified by visual inspection. The percentage of midline head position (PMHP) and number of changes in head position were calculated. Spontaneous limb movements were quantified using six indices. The values of PMHP were significantly lower in the ASD group than in the TD group. The lower PMHP during early infancy is associated with later development of ASD. Poorer performance in maintaining midline position of the head at this period may distinguish infants who later develop ASD from those who show TD.

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Acknowledgements

The work reported in this paper was supported by a MEXT Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (no. 24119002 to G. T. and no. 16K16620 to H. G.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Faculty of Regional Sciences, Tottori University, 4-101, Koyama-Minami, Tottori, Japan

    Hirotaka Gima

  2. Department of Physical and Health Education, Graduate School of Education, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Hirotaka Gima, Hama Watanabe & Gentaro Taga

  3. Babycastle corporation, 373-1,Tsubuku-imamachi, Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan

    Hideki Kihara

  4. Department of Physical Therapy, School of Sciences, Kyorin University, 5-4-1, Shimorenjaku, Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan

    Hisako Nakano

  5. Department of Data Science, The Institute of Statistical Mathematics, 10-3, Midori-cho, Tachikawa, Tokyo, Japan

    Junji Nakano

  6. Center of Baby Science, Doshisha University, 4-1-1, Kizugawadai, Kizugawa, Kyoto, Japan

    Yukuo Konishi

  7. Department of Neonatology, Nagano Children’s Hospital, 3100, Toyoshina, Azumino, Nagano, Japan

    Tomohiko Nakamura

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  1. Hirotaka Gima
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  2. Hideki Kihara
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  3. Hama Watanabe
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  4. Hisako Nakano
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  5. Junji Nakano
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  6. Yukuo Konishi
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  7. Tomohiko Nakamura
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  8. Gentaro Taga
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Correspondence to Hirotaka Gima.

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Gima, H., Kihara, H., Watanabe, H. et al. Early motor signs of autism spectrum disorder in spontaneous position and movement of the head. Exp Brain Res 236, 1139–1148 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-018-5202-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-018-5202-x

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