Contrast sensitivity threshold measured by sweep-visual evoked potential in term and preterm infants at 3 and 10 months of age
Although healthy preterm infants frequently seem to be more attentive to visual stimuli and to fix on them longer than full-term infants, no difference in visual acuity has been reported compared to term infants. We evaluated the contrast sensitivity (CS) function of term (N = 5) and healthy preterm...
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Associação Brasileira de Divulgação Científica
2004-09-01
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| Series: | Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research |
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| Online Access: | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0100-879X2004000900014&lng=en&tlng=en |
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| author | A.G.F. Oliveira M.F. Costa J.M. de Souza D.F. Ventura |
| author_facet | A.G.F. Oliveira M.F. Costa J.M. de Souza D.F. Ventura |
| author_sort | A.G.F. Oliveira |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Although healthy preterm infants frequently seem to be more attentive to visual stimuli and to fix on them longer than full-term infants, no difference in visual acuity has been reported compared to term infants. We evaluated the contrast sensitivity (CS) function of term (N = 5) and healthy preterm (N = 11) infants at 3 and 10 months of life using sweep-visual evoked potentials. Two spatial frequencies were studied: low (0.2 cycles per degrees, cpd) and medium (4.0 cpd). The mean contrast sensitivity (expressed in percentage of contrast) of the preterm infants at 3 months was 55.4 for the low spatial frequency (0.2 cpd) and 43.4 for the medium spatial frequency (4.0 cpd). At 10 months the low spatial CS was 52.7 and the medium spatial CS was 9.9. The results for the term infants at 3 months were 55.1 for the low spatial frequency and 34.5 for the medium spatial frequency. At 10 months the equivalent values were 54.3 and 14.4, respectively. No difference was found using the Mann-Whitney rank sum T-test between term and preterm infants for the low frequency at 3 or 10 months or for the medium spatial frequency at 3 or 10 months. The development of CS for the medium spatial frequency was equally fast for term and preterm infants. As also observed for visual acuity, CS was equivalent among term and preterm infants, suggesting that visual experience does not modify the development of the primary visual pathway. An earlier development of synapses in higher cortical visual areas of preterm infants could explain the better use of visual information observed behaviorally in these infants. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T22:51:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ed7271b8bf0d48f39b23022910db2d85 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1414-431X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T22:51:46Z |
| publishDate | 2004-09-01 |
| publisher | Associação Brasileira de Divulgação Científica |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-ed7271b8bf0d48f39b23022910db2d852022-12-21T20:02:47ZengAssociação Brasileira de Divulgação CientíficaBrazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research1414-431X2004-09-013791389139610.1590/S0100-879X2004000900014S0100-879X2004000900014Contrast sensitivity threshold measured by sweep-visual evoked potential in term and preterm infants at 3 and 10 months of ageA.G.F. Oliveira0M.F. Costa1J.M. de Souza2D.F. Ventura3Universidade de São PauloUniversidade de São PauloUniversidade de São PauloUniversidade de São PauloAlthough healthy preterm infants frequently seem to be more attentive to visual stimuli and to fix on them longer than full-term infants, no difference in visual acuity has been reported compared to term infants. We evaluated the contrast sensitivity (CS) function of term (N = 5) and healthy preterm (N = 11) infants at 3 and 10 months of life using sweep-visual evoked potentials. Two spatial frequencies were studied: low (0.2 cycles per degrees, cpd) and medium (4.0 cpd). The mean contrast sensitivity (expressed in percentage of contrast) of the preterm infants at 3 months was 55.4 for the low spatial frequency (0.2 cpd) and 43.4 for the medium spatial frequency (4.0 cpd). At 10 months the low spatial CS was 52.7 and the medium spatial CS was 9.9. The results for the term infants at 3 months were 55.1 for the low spatial frequency and 34.5 for the medium spatial frequency. At 10 months the equivalent values were 54.3 and 14.4, respectively. No difference was found using the Mann-Whitney rank sum T-test between term and preterm infants for the low frequency at 3 or 10 months or for the medium spatial frequency at 3 or 10 months. The development of CS for the medium spatial frequency was equally fast for term and preterm infants. As also observed for visual acuity, CS was equivalent among term and preterm infants, suggesting that visual experience does not modify the development of the primary visual pathway. An earlier development of synapses in higher cortical visual areas of preterm infants could explain the better use of visual information observed behaviorally in these infants.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0100-879X2004000900014&lng=en&tlng=enContrast sensitivityPreterm infantsSweep-visual evoked potentialVisual developmentVisual acuity |
| spellingShingle | A.G.F. Oliveira M.F. Costa J.M. de Souza D.F. Ventura Contrast sensitivity threshold measured by sweep-visual evoked potential in term and preterm infants at 3 and 10 months of age Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research Contrast sensitivity Preterm infants Sweep-visual evoked potential Visual development Visual acuity |
| title | Contrast sensitivity threshold measured by sweep-visual evoked potential in term and preterm infants at 3 and 10 months of age |
| title_full | Contrast sensitivity threshold measured by sweep-visual evoked potential in term and preterm infants at 3 and 10 months of age |
| title_fullStr | Contrast sensitivity threshold measured by sweep-visual evoked potential in term and preterm infants at 3 and 10 months of age |
| title_full_unstemmed | Contrast sensitivity threshold measured by sweep-visual evoked potential in term and preterm infants at 3 and 10 months of age |
| title_short | Contrast sensitivity threshold measured by sweep-visual evoked potential in term and preterm infants at 3 and 10 months of age |
| title_sort | contrast sensitivity threshold measured by sweep visual evoked potential in term and preterm infants at 3 and 10 months of age |
| topic | Contrast sensitivity Preterm infants Sweep-visual evoked potential Visual development Visual acuity |
| url | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0100-879X2004000900014&lng=en&tlng=en |
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