The effects of prematurity on the developing nervous system remain unclear, in part because current methods of neonatal neuromotor assessment do not include measures of timing and coordination, and because prediction from neonatal to later behavior does not specify how early components of later acquired skills become coordinated in new ways during development. The need for sensitive measures of timing in infant neuromotor assessment is evident in the development of speech production, where the timing of breathing and oral movements is critical. While it is well established that disorders of speech production are associated with prematurity, it is not known whether these disorders are related to the timing of component motor rhythm (e.g., mouth movements evident in sucking, respiratory movement of chest and abdomen) or to the process by which breathing and oral motor rhythms interact. This study examines both the timing of early motor rhythms (respiration, non-nutritive and nutritive sucking, crying) and their relation to the development of non-cry vocalizations during the first year. A group of high risk preterm infants is contrasted with healthy preterm and full term groups. Oral and respiratory motor rhythms and non-cry vocalizations are recorded longitudinally during the first year, along with standardized assessment of mental and motor development. The direct measurement of the timing of sucking and respiration and their interaction is combined with an analysis of the effects of minor perturbation on timing as quantitative measures of the influences of prematurity on the developing nervous system. The quantitative measures of the influences of prematurity on the developing nervous system. The quantitative timing measures are also used to predict characteristics of timing in breath groups and consonant production during non-cry vocalizations in the first year.
