Habituation Alteration in Infants with Periventricular Echogenicity as an Indicator of Neurocognitive Impairment

ABSTRACT

Habituation difficulties may suggest neurocognitive impairment. Periventricular echogenicity (PVE) potentially causes subtle damage that poses neuropsychological risk. Habituation was evaluated through heart rate and behavioral states in infants at 36–37 weeks of corrected age between control and PVE groups. PVE infants showed early alertness and abrupt changes in behavioral states. However, the comparison group could better regulate their states. Heart rate was significantly high and remained unchanged in the PVE group but decreased in the control group. Alterations during the habituation paradigm in PVE infants could be early indicators of neuropsychological risk impairment. Scope of early habituation assessment is discussed.

Disclosure Statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

To M.M. for her support in the collection of some of the data, to Dr. Liliana Bobadilla for her valuable comments on the text. This work was supported by the 2017 Continuity Fund of the Faculty of Health Sciences of Universidad Panamericana and to CONACYT-SNI for grants 73097 to S.A.T and 65590 to V.A.C.