Abstract
Recent progresses of ultrasound imaging technology have induced observations of fetal intrauterine behavior and perspective intrauterine learning. Understanding fetal behavior in uterus is important for medical cares for prenatal infants, because the intervention like “nesting” in NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) is based on a perspective of intrauterine learning. However, fetal behavior is not explained sufficiently by the perspective. In this study, we have proposed a hypothesis in which two of fetal behavior, Isolated leg/arm movements and hand/face contact, emerge from exploration by neural oscillator in spinal cord and self-organization of nervous system through tactile information in uterus. We have conducted computer experiments with a simple musculoskeleta model and a whole body fetal musculoskeletal model with tactile in uterus for the hypothesis. We confirmed that tactile information induce reflexive behaviors by the experiments of the simple model, and the fetal model with human like tactile distribution have behaved with the two behavior similar to the correspond real fetal behaviors. Our experiments indicated that fetal intrauterine learning is possibly core concept for the fetal motor development.
