Kinematic modulation across the ontogenetic transition to active social engagement
Spontaneous general movements provide a natural neuromotor baseline for quantifying context-related kinematic modulation as infants transition toward active social engagement. In this longitudinal prospective study, we analyzed 47 infants recorded at 4, 8, 12, and 16 weeks post-term age using 3D mar...
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| Autori principali: | , , , , , , |
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| Natura: | Article (Journal) |
| Lingua: | inglese |
| Pubblicazione: |
September 2026
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| In: |
Early human development
Year: 2026, Volume: 220, Pages: 1-11 |
| ISSN: | 1872-6232 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2026.106543 |
| Accesso online: | Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2026.106543 Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037837822600068X 
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| Note sull'autore: | Lennart Jahn, Tomas Kulvicius, Sarah Wesolek, Florentin Wörgötter, Luise Poustka, Peter B. Marschik, Dajie Zhang |
| Riassunto: | Spontaneous general movements provide a natural neuromotor baseline for quantifying context-related kinematic modulation as infants transition toward active social engagement. In this longitudinal prospective study, we analyzed 47 infants recorded at 4, 8, 12, and 16 weeks post-term age using 3D markerless motion tracking. Kinematics were compared across three contexts: beginning with the child alone (solitary, baseline), followed by the caregiver’s approach, and then the subsequent social context. Motion space, posture, and movement speed were quantified to index age-specific changes in body control and orientation across contexts. Across development, motion space expanded from a predominantly horizontal distribution at 4 weeks to greater vertical and midline occupancy by 16 weeks. Context-related postural modulation emerged with age, shifting from initially minimal differences to sustained head and upper-body orientation toward the caregiver by 12 weeks. Remarkably, speed showed a nonlinear trajectory: infants exhibited a brief reduction in movement speed around caregiver arrival at 4 weeks, a more sustained reduction at 8 weeks, and a reversal to post-arrival acceleration beginning at 12 weeks. These findings highlight continuous ontogenetic adaptation from the outset, in which context-sensitive motor modulation is tuned across development to the infant’s current repertoire and environmental demands, in service of increasingly active social engagement. Our study offers a new framework for detecting potential divergence that may lie less in specific early social behaviors than in cross-domain coordination and context-sensitive modulation. |
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| Descrizione del documento: | Online verfügbar: 21. April 2026, Artikelversion: 24. April 2026 Gesehen am 13.08.2026 |
| Descrizione fisica: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 1872-6232 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2026.106543 |