Asia-Oceania journal of obstetrics and gynaecology / AOFOG
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Asia Oceania J Obstet Gynaecol · Dec 1989
The development of sleep-wakefulness cycle and its correlation to other behavior in the human fetus.
Fetal rapid eye movements (REM), breathing movements (BM), and trunk movements (TM) were observed through the use of 3 ultrasonic real-time scanners. Each movement was recorded with the event marker and quantitatively analyzed in relation to the development of the sleep-wakefulness cycle by a computer-assisted system. The results were as follows: The number of REM increased with gestational age. ⋯ The relationship between REM and BM increased with gestational age. The occurrence of each TM has no correlation to that of REM when it was analyzed in short-term units, but the incidence of TM was high in REM periods. These results demonstrate the course of the development of sleep-wakefulness cycle in human fetuses.