Autonomic development in preterm infants is associated with morbidity of prematurity

The latter half of gestation and early neonatal life are critical periods for the maturation of the autonomic nervous system. Premature infants are born with underdeveloped autonomic maturation and must undergo their developmental changes in a vastly different setting to the natural, in utero environment. A number of studies have shown autonomic dysmaturation in premature infants, although these have mainly looked at cohorts of children from high-morbidity NICUs. In this episode, Geoff Marsh talks to Dr. Sarah Mulkey, a fetal neonatal neurologist at Children's National Hospital in Washington DC, who tracked the sympathetic and parasympathetic maturation of a cohort of preterm infants with low medical morbidity in a large community NICU, to assess how birth gestational age affected their autonomic maturation. Have a listen! Related Article: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41390-021-01420-x