Assessing brain development in premature infants to assist learning
About 500 000 babies are born prematurely in Europe every year, and a tenth of newborns globally are premature. Being born before the 37th week of pregnancy has a negative impact on the way the brain is folded and on the myelinisation process of brain cells. “Fewer brain folds result in reduced cortical area and volume, while poor myelinisation slows down information transmission in the brain,” explains Audrey van der Meer, coordinator of the EU-supported AIM_COACH project, and professor of psychology based at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. During the last trimester of pregnancy and the child’s first year, an area of the brain running from the visual cortex at the back of the head to the top of the head where the motor cortex is located, develops rapidly. Called the dorsal visual processing stream this controls sensory-motor integration, planning of action, timing, and perception of distance, speed, direction and time-to-collision. “Many babies that are born prematurely suffer from a so-called ‘dorsal-stream vulnerability’, which means they experience difficulties when interacting with moving objects in the world,” says Van der Meer, whose project received support from the EU’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme.
Harnessing AI and electroencephalography to witness brain activity in infants
Using advanced electrode nets the lab recorded electrical brain activity in very young babies while they were watching virtual balls looming towards them at high speeds on a large screen. The team tested over 500 infants on the ‘looming paradigm’, and most babies are genuinely impressed by the balls that look as if they will collide with their face. Infants must process information about when the ball will hit them fast and precisely so that they can blink, duck or move their hands up to protect their eyes and face in time. The 128 sensitive electrodes are sewn together in a ‘hair net’ which is placed in one swift motion over the baby’s head, while the team blows soap bubbles for distraction. Because babies have much thinner skulls than adults and usually have little or no hair, the team was able to pick up good quality brain signals in microvolts. While the infant was watching the approaching balls and wearing the net the computer automatically picked out the looming-related responses and determined whether it was an adequate, age-appropriate brain response, or whether the response showed flaws. “To develop a brain-computer interface to facilitate perceptual learning in young infants we used a large data set consisting of brain data during a visual looming task, recorded from a total of 100 infants under a year old,” she notes, adding: “This is where we are now, with the computer reliably picking out the looming-related brain responses in 77 % of all trials. Given that we are working with baby brain data, this is an excellent result.”
Applying the knowledge to help infants develop and learn
Last year, the team published evidence that it is possible to advance brain development and improve motion perception in babies under the age of one by giving them extra motor stimulation in the form of tummy time, baby swimming and baby massage. This, explains Van der Meer, has important implications for preterm babies who are at risk of developing a dorsal-stream vulnerability. The team also hopes the AI cognitive analysis system will be offered as an intervention programme to those children that are likely to benefit most from an early diagnosis, and early intervention, before school age. “We managed to develop the first baby brain-computer interface in the world for the early diagnosis of brain damage and early intervention. It is important to promote learning and prevent problems in infants under the age of two years whose brains still show enormous plasticity,” says Van der Meer.
Keywords
AIM_COACH, EU, AI, electroencephalography, brain activity, infants, brain development, brain damage, early intervention
