Ruth Eckstein Grunau

PhD

Investigator Emerita, BC Children's Hospital

Early stress in immature neonates, both animal and human, has the potential for long-term effects. Medical care of infants born prematurely at very low gestational age (below 33 weeks gestation) involves repeated exposure to noxious procedures, at a time of very rapid brain development and programming of stress systems.

Pain in biologically immature neonates is developmentally “unexpected” inducing numerous physiologic, endocrine and behavioral changes that may contribute to altered brain development and stress regulation - affecting neurodevelopment, ability to self-regulate behaviorally and physiologically, as well as altering multiple aspects of attention, learning and memory. These difficulties may impact the infant's adjustment to the environment, parent-infant interaction, behavior and later academic achievement; however the etiology is largely unknown.

Using a transdisciplinary, biobehavioural approach we have gained new knowledge about pain reactivity, relationships between response systems in premature compared to healthy term born infants, and increased understanding of mechanisms contributing to altered neurodevelopment and internalizing behaviors in these fragile children.