Infants born very preterm (PT), prior to 32 weeks gestation, are at increased risk of developing cerebral palsy. Children with spastic cerebral palsy have impaired selective leg joint movement, which contributes to lifelong walking limitations. We investigated whether infants born PT generated more selective hip–knee joint movement (e.g., hip flexes as knee extends) while participating in a scaffolded mobile task. Infants born PT and infants born full-term (FT) at 4 months corrected age participated in a scaffolded mobile task for 2–3 consecutive days. The scaffolded mobile task required infants to raise their legs vertically over a virtual threshold. Three threshold heights (low, middle, and high) were used to test whether the middle and high heights encourage infants to move their legs more selectively. Fifteen infants born FT learned the task and showed more selective hip–knee movement at each of the three threshold heights on the day that they learned, compared with their baseline spontaneous kicking. Thirteen infants born PT learned the task and showed more selective hip–knee movement on their learning day, but only when the middle and high thresholds were used. The results show that the scaffolded mobile task effectively encouraged infants to generate more selective hip–knee joint movement.

中文翻译：

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早产儿和足月儿在脚手架移动任务中产生更多选择性的腿关节运动

在妊娠 32 周之前出生的极早产 (PT) 婴儿患脑瘫的风险增加。患有痉挛性脑瘫的儿童选择性腿部关节运动受损，导致终生行走受限。我们调查了出生 PT 的婴儿在参与脚手架移动任务时是否产生了更具选择性的髋膝关节运动（例如，随着膝关节伸展，髋关节屈曲）。出生 PT 的婴儿和 4 个月校正年龄出生的足月 (FT) 婴儿连续 2-3 天参加脚手架移动任务。脚手架移动任务要求婴儿垂直抬起他们的腿超过虚拟阈值。使用三个阈值高度（低、中和高）来测试中高度和高高度是否鼓励婴儿更有选择性地移动他们的腿。与基线自发踢腿相比，15 名 FT 出生的婴儿学会了这项任务，并在他们学习的当天在三个阈值高度中的每一个都表现出更多的选择性髋膝运动。13 名 PT 出生的婴儿在学习日学习了这项任务并表现出更多选择性的髋膝运动，但仅在使用中阈值和高阈值时。结果表明，脚手架移动任务有效地鼓励婴儿产生更多选择性的髋膝关节运动。