Premium
Effects of body movement restraint on cardiac response to auditory stimulation in sleeping infants
Author(s) -
Kahn A,
Rebuffat E,
Sottiaux M
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
acta pædiatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.1992.tb12153.x
Subject(s) - medicine , stimulation , audiology , movement (music) , physical medicine and rehabilitation , physical stimulation , philosophy , aesthetics
When exposed to an unfamiliar and sudden noise, infant rodents may show an abrupt bradycardia, as part of a “fear‐paralysis response”. The response is enhanced by body movements restraint. To investigate if this reaction is seen in humans, 15 normal infants with a median age of 12 weeks were studied polygraphically. They were exposed to a 100‐dB (A) white noise, while sleeping in REM sleep. Each infant was studied in both “unrestrained” and “restrained’ conditions. Restraint of body movement was obtained by means of sand bags and tightly‐binding bed sheets. During movement restraint, the infants had a significantly greater and earlier decrease in heart rate compared with during the unrestrained condition. No infant had a minimal heart rate less than 95 beats/min. The present observation raises questions about the possible unfavorable effects of tightly wrapped bed sheets around sleeping infants.