Motor Overflow during Reaching in Infancy: Quantification of Limb Movement Using Inertial Motion Units

Abstract

Early in life, infants exhibit motor overflow, which can be defined as the generation of involuntary movements accompanying purposeful actions. We present the results of a quantitative study exploring motor overflow in 4-month-old infants. This is the first study quantifying motor overflow with high accuracy and precision provided by Inertial Motion Units. The study aimed to investigate the motor activity across the non-acting limbs during goal-directed action. To this end, we used wearable motion trackers to measure infant motor activity during a baby-gym task designed to capture overflow during reaching movements. The analysis was conducted on the subsample of participants (n = 20), who performed at least four reaches during the task. A series of Granger causality tests revealed that the activity differed depending on the non-acting limb and the type of the reaching movement. Importantly, on average, the non-acting arm preceded the activation of the acting arm. In contrast, the activity of the acting arm was followed by the activation of the legs. This may be caused by their distinct purposes in supporting postural stability and efficiency of movement execution. Finally, our findings demonstrate the utility of wearable motion trackers for precise measurement of infant movement dynamics.