The neurological assessment of the infant (ages birth to 12 months)

The Neurological Assessment of the Infant – Ages Births to 12 months Total Number of Words: 597 Neurological Exam of an Infant
Nutritional deficiency during the mother’s pregnancy period and the child’s infancy stage are some of the main reasons why a child could not reach their maximum motor, cognitive, and socio-emotional development (Prado & Dewey, 2014). Furthermore, “ fetal exposure to stress” can also contribute to the development of impairment on the infant’s central nervous system, cognitive, and emotional development (Sandman et al., 2011: 1).
Spittle et al. (2014) mentioned that pre-term babies who were born less than 30 weeks of gestation are at risks of having long-term neurodevelopmental impairment as compared to term-born babies (i. e. motor, cognitive, and socio-emotional or behavioral impairment). Because of the presence of developmental disorders, pre-term babies are at risks of experiencing more serious problems with regards to their motor, cognitive, and behavioral functioning as they grow older (Tronick & Lester, 2013).
The best way to check the whether or not an infant is at risk of having developmental disability or disorder is to conduct neurological assessment/examination (Hadders-Algra et al., 2010). Aside from testing the potential link between an infant’s neurological, motor, and behavioral functioning, Noble and Boyd (2012) mentioned that it is possible to conduct both neuromotor and neurobehavioral examinations not only to detect potential dysfunction on the infant’s central nervous system. Often times, neurobehavioral examination is necessary to learn more about the infants’ behavioral strengths and weaknesses (Brown & Spittle, 2015).
In practice, there are quite a lot of neurological tools which can be used in the actual examination. For instance, Tronick and Leste (2013) mentioned that NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS) can be use in detecting signs of neurobehavioral impairment among infants. In another study, Gabriel, Formiga and Linhares (2013) mentioned that the Neurobehavioral Assessment of Preterm Infant (NAPI) can be use to examine pre-term infants’ body movements, alertness, and cry among many others. Through early assessment, healthcare professionals can advice the child’s parents about the most appropriate intervention to consider (Brown & Spittle, 2015).
Infant Milestones for the First 12 Months of Life
Months
Gross Motor
Fine Motor
Socio-Emotion
Language
1st
Can turn head or chin up
Fist of hands
Cry when distressed
Make some “ throaty” sound
2nd
Chest up while in prone position
Ability to unfist hands; can move hands together
Smiles back to people
Can make “ vowel” sounds
3rd
Can roll from side-to-side
Observes hand movements
Make some facial expression when tasting sour foods or hearing loud noise
Can do vocalization
4th
Can sit provided that there is a trunk support; can roll to front or back
Ability to grasp on clothes; play the rattle with hands
Smiles often when hearing sound
Laughing; stop crying once the infant hears familiar voice
5th
Can sit while arms support the trunk
Putting objects from hand-to-mouth
Recognizes family members
Respond when name is called
6th
Can handle weight using 1 hand
Reach objects using a hand
Cries when seeing strangers
Listen to “ no” command
7th
Can sit w/out support
Grasping
Non-verbal cues when asking for help
Increase in the use of syllables
8th
Crawl; from sitting to kneel position
Bang an object
Show signs of being happy and sad
Respond to “ come here”; says “ papa”
9th
Stand on hands/feet; learns to walk
Bang 2 objects
Use sound to get attention
Says “ mama”; imitate sound
10th
Walks by holding on objects
Pokes
Sense of fear; recognizes name calling
“ peek-a-boo”; wave hands
11th
Stand for a second
Throw objects
Give objects to people
Dance with music
12th
Stands on his own
Scribble; holds pen
Points on an object
Gesture like pointing finger
Source: Gerber, Wilks & Erdie-Lalena, 2010
References
Brown, N., & Spittle, A. (2015). Neurobehavioral Evaluation in the Preterm and Term Infant. Current Pediatric Reviews. 2015. 11(4). Retrieved March 31, 2015, from http://benthamscience. com/journal/abstracts. php? journalID= cpr&articleID= 121467
Gabriel, P., Formiga, C., & Linhares, M. (2013). Early Neurobehavioral Development of Preterm Infants. Psicologia: Reflexão e Crítica. 2013. 26(1), 202-211. Retrieved March 31, 2015, from http://www. scielo. br/pdf/prc/v26n1/22. pdf
Gerber, R., Wilks, T., & Erdie-Lalena, C. (2010). Developmental milestones: Motor development. Pediatrics in Review. 2010. 31: 267-277. Retrieved March 31, 2015, from http://www. medschool. lsuhsc. edu/medical_education/undergraduate/spm/SPM_100/documents/MotorDevelopment. pdf
Hadders-Algra, M., Heineman, K., Bos, A., & Middelburg, K. (2010). The assessment of minor neurological dysfunction in infaccy using the Touwen infant neurological examination: Strengths and limitations. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology. 52: 87-92 . Retrieved March 31, 2015, from http://onlinelibrary. wiley. com/doi/10. 1111/j. 1469-8749. 2009. 03305. x/epdf
Noble, Y., & Boyd, R. (2012). Neonatal assessments for the preterm infant up to 4 months corrected age: a systematic review. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology. 2012. 54(2): 129-139. Retrieved March 31, 2015, from http://onlinelibrary. wiley. com/doi/10. 1111/j. 1469-8749. 2010. 03903. x/full
Prado, E., & Dewey, K. (2014). Nutrition and brain development in early life. Nutrition Reviews. 72(4): 267-284. Retrieved March 31, 2015, from http://onlinelibrary. wiley. com/doi/10. 1111/nure. 12102/full
Sandman, C., Davis, E., Buss, C., & Glynn, L. (2011). Prenatal Programming of Human Neurological Function. International Journal of Peptides. 2011. Article ID 837596. doi: 10. 1155/2011/837596. Retrieved March 31, 2015, from http://www. du. edu/neurodevelopment/media/documents/prenatalprogram. pdf
Spittle, A., Thompson, D., Brown, N., Treyvaud, K., Cheong, J., & al., e. (2014). Neurobehaviour between birth and 40 weeks’ gestation in infants born