Standardized music therapy with and without acclimatization, to improve EEG data acquisition in young children with and without disability.

Introduction: In young children, EEG data acquisition during stimulation tasks is difficult due to anxiety, movement and behaviorally-related interruptions, especially in those with disabilities.

New Method: We used standardized music therapy (MT) protocols with and without acclimatization, during and prior to time-locked EEG with a published tactile testing protocol. Our prospective study leveraged a larger trial in children with/without cerebral palsy aged 7-27 months.

Multimodal Neurological Enhancement Intervention for Self-regulation in Premature Infants.

Background: The neonatal intensive care unit is often a noisy, overstimulating environment that disrupts infants' regulation of physiological and behavioral states and interrupts caregiver bonding; however, infants benefit from early intervention, including the use of multimodal neurological enhancement (MMNE) intervention to provide appropriate neurodevelopmental stimulation. No one has investigated whether it assists infants in self-regulation.

Purpose: The purpose of this retrospective longitudinal analysis was to examine the effect of a music therapy intervention, MMNE, on self-regulation of premature infants as measured by changes in heart rate (HR).

A randomised controlled trial of protocolised music therapy demonstrates developmental milestone acquisition in hospitalised infants.

Aim: To compare the effectiveness of an intensive-intermittent vs. standard spaced protocolised music therapy intervention on supporting developmental milestone acquisition of infants >44 weeks postmenstrual age (PMA) hospitalised in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

Method: This was a comparative effectiveness study of infants 44-66 weeks PMA with a projected NICU stay of at least one month from recruitment.

Speech and language interventions for infants aged 0 to 2 years at high risk for cerebral palsy: a systematic review.

Aim: We evaluated the level of evidence of speech, language, and communication interventions for infants at high-risk for, or with a diagnosis of, cerebral palsy (CP) from 0 to 2 years old.

Method: We performed a systematic review of relevant terms. Articles were evaluated based on the level of methodological quality and evidence according to A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) guidelines.

Early childhood constraint therapy for sensory/motor impairment in cerebral palsy: a randomised clinical trial protocol.

Introduction: Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common physical disability in childhood. It is a disorder resulting from sensory and motor impairments due to perinatal brain injury, with lifetime consequences that range from poor adaptive and social function to communication and emotional disturbances. Infants with CP have a fundamental disadvantage in recovering motor function: they do not receive accurate sensory feedback from their movements, leading to developmental disregard.

Parenteral nutrition as an unexpected and preventable source of mercury exposure in preterm infants.

Perinatal mercury exposure has neurodevelopmental consequences, which may be worse in preterm infants. In our cohort (N = 60), maternal and infant prenatal exposures were low, but infant levels increased during hospitalization and correlated only with duration of parenteral nutrition. A non-negligible exposure resulted from the nutrition preparation on equipment shared with adult preparations.