Electrically and mechanically elicited blink reflexes in infants and children — maturation and recovery curves of blink reflex

Abstract We studied the electrically and mechanically elicited blink reflexes in 2 groups of subjects, i.e., 237 newborn infants, 25–41 weeks of conceptional age, and 74 children, 1 month-12 years of age. In infants after 25 weeks of conceptional age we could usually induce the early response (R1) and ipsilateral late response (R2), while the contralateral late response (R2′) of the electrical blink reflex became apparent after 33 weeks of conceptional age and the frequency of the appearance of R2′ reached more than 60% after 38 weeks of conceptional age. After 7 months of age, R2′ was usually observed. The R1 latency in full-term newborns was close to adult values, while the R2 and R2′ latencies reached adult values at 7–12 years. After 1 year of age the latency of the R2 mechanical blink reflex had a tendency to be shorter than that of the electrical blink reflex. Under 35 weeks of conceptional age, the recovery curves of the blink reflex were considerably different from those of full-term infants, and premature infants showed little or no evidence of inhibition. These results indicate the absence of inhibitory interneurones in premature infants.