Publications by authors named "Foteini Andritsou"
Immune function and sensitivity to pain are closely related, but the association between early life inflammation and sensory nervous system development is poorly understood-especially in humans. Here, in term-born infants, we measure brain activity and reflex withdrawal activity (using EEG and EMG) and behavioural and physiological activity (using the PIPP-R score) to assess the impact of suspected early-onset neonatal infection on tactile- and noxious-evoked responses. We present evidence that neonatal inflammation (assessed by measuring C-reactive protein levels) is associated with increased spinal cord excitability and evoked brain activity following both tactile and noxious stimulation.
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- * The study examined how preterm infants (28-40 weeks postmenstrual age) respond to painful (heel lance) versus non-painful stimuli, using a variety of indicators like facial expressions and brain activity.
- * The findings show that while pain responses evolve as infants grow, the responses to painful and non-painful stimuli can be accurately distinguished, with accuracy rates between 76-84%.
Article Synopsis
- Prematurity can lead to significant neurodevelopmental issues that affect brain function early in life, detectable in infants.
- This research introduces a standardized template analysis using EEG to measure brain responses to different stimuli (visual, tactile, and noxious) in very preterm infants.
- Findings indicate that premature birth influences sensory system maturation, with notable differences in brain response patterns between infants born very preterm and those born later, suggesting higher responsiveness in visual and tactile areas for the former group.
Despite the high burden of pain experienced by hospitalised neonates, there are few analgesics with proven efficacy. Testing analgesics in neonates is experimentally and ethically challenging and minimising the number of neonates required to demonstrate efficacy is essential. EEG (electroencephalography)-derived measures of noxious-evoked brain activity can be used to assess analgesic efficacy; however, as variability exists in neonate's responses to painful procedures, large sample sizes are often required.
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