Object exploration in extremely preterm infants between 6 and 9 months and relation to cognitive and language development at 24 months.
Tracking how long a six-month preterm baby mouths and manipulates toys gives you a reliable heads-up on later language and cognitive skills.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Doctors watched extremely preterm babies play with toys at home. They timed how long each baby mouthed, banged, or passed the toy from hand to hand.
The same children came back at two years old for speech and thinking tests. The team asked: do the early play scores forecast later delays?
What they found
Babies who mouthed toys longer at six months had stronger language scores at two years. Babies who held and moved toys longer at six months had better thinking scores at two years.
By nine months the preterm group had caught up to full-term peers in total play time. Early mouth and hand use closed the gap before toddlerhood.
How this fits with other research
Zuccarini et al. (2016) saw the same babies six months earlier. That paper showed preterm infants touched toys less than full-term infants. The new study proves the gap can close if you give babies three more months of practice.
de Campos et al. (2012) reviewed eighteen papers and said we lack data on preterm exploration. This 2017 study fills the exact hole they flagged.
Rohr et al. (2022) added low-income babies and found less fingering and waving. Together the papers tell us poverty and prematurity both limit early hand play, so check both risk flags.
Why it matters
You can spot future language and cognitive delays before babies can talk. Watch mouth and hand use at six months. If a preterm baby barely mouths or moves toys, add more tactile toys and caregiver hand-over-hand play. Three months of rich object experience can level the field.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Although early object exploration is considered a key ability for subsequent achievements, very few studies have analyzed its development in extremely low gestational age infants (ELGA- GA <28 weeks), whose early motor skills are delayed. Moreover, no studies have examined its developmental relationship with cognitive and language skills. The present study examined developmental change in Motor Object Exploration (MOE) and different types of MOE (Holding, Oral, Manual and Manual Rhythmic Exploration) in 20 ELGA and 20 full term (FT) infants observed during mother-infant play interaction at 6 and 9 months. It also explored whether specific types of MOE were longitudinally related to 24-month language and cognitive abilities (GMDS-R scores). ELGA infants increased MOE duration from 6 to 9 months, eliminating the initial difference with FT infants. In addition, ELGA infants showed a different pattern of Oral Exploration, that did not increase at 6 months and decrease at 9 months. Oral and Manual Exploration durations at 6 months were longitudinally related to 24-month GMDS-R language and cognitive performance scores respectively. We discuss the relevance of assessing early exploratory abilities in ELGA infants in order to implement customized intervention programs for supporting the development of these skills.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2017 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2017.06.002