Visual tracking in very preterm infants at 4 mo predicts neurodevelopment at 3 y of age.

Background: Typically developing infants track moving objects with eye and head movements in a smooth and predictive way at 4 mo of age, but this ability is delayed in very preterm infants. We hypothesized that visual tracking ability in very preterm infants predicts later neurodevelopment.

Method: In 67 very preterm infants (gestational age<32 wk), eye and head movements were assessed at 4 mo corrected age while the infant tracked a moving object.

Neuron-semiconductor chip with chemical synapse between identified neurons.

Noninvasive electrical stimulation and recording of neuronal networks from semiconductor chips is a prerequisite for the development of neuroelectronic devices. In a proof-of-principle experiment, we implemented the fundamental element of such future hybrids by joining a silicon chip with an excitatory chemical synapse between a pair of identified neurons from the pond snail. We stimulated the presynaptic cell (VD4) with a chip capacitor and recorded the activity of the postsynaptic cell (LPeD1) with a transistor.