Normal electrographic-polysomnographic patterns in preterm and fullterm infants.

Maturational changes occur in electroencephalogram (EEG)-sleep patterns for the neonate from preterm to fullterm postconceptional age. Electrical maturity of the neonatal brain is correlated within 1 to 2 weeks of other criteria for gestational maturity. Proper recording techniques of EEG-sleep studies in neonates will ensure accurate documentation of both cerebral and noncerebral parameters. Before 36 weeks postconceptional age (PCA), recognition of specific electrographic patterns are used to identify neonates of different PCAs. Following 36 weeks PCA, concordance between cerebral and noncerebral physiological behaviors are more predictable of neonatal EEG-sleep segments; this phenomena is independent of intrauterine or extrauterine development. Computer-assisted analyses of EEG sleep complement visual inspection by better characterizing relationships among EEG-sleep behaviors. Such analyses have documented group differences between preterm and fullterm infants of comparable postconceptional ages, suggesting adaptation of brain function to conditions of prematurity. Recognition of neonatal EEG-sleep patterns facilitate both an understanding of functional brain ontogeny and a recognition of pattern disturbances that underlie pathological or stressful conditions.