Neural substrate and clinical significance of general movements: an update

Abstract

General movements are present from early fetal life to 3 to 5 months corrected age. Atypical general movements, especially in the last, so-called fidgety general movement phase, are predictive of cerebral palsy (CP). This review updates knowledge on the neural substrate and clinical significance of typical and atypical general movements. Typical general movements are primarily characterized by complexity and variation. Presumably these core characteristics are initially induced by modulating activity of the cortical subplate. When the subplate gradually dissolves between 3 months before term and 3 months corrected age the cortical plate takes over. This coincides with the fidgety general movement phase. Conceivably, fidgety activity reflects ‘sparsification’, i.e. fragmentation of cortical network activity. The quintessential feature of atypical general movements is reduced complexity and variation. This is attributed to impaired integrity of extensive cortical-subcortical networks, in which the subplate and periventricular white matter play a prominent role. The most serious forms of network impairment are associated with absent fidgety movements. What this paper adds: The emergence of fidgety movements reflects a developmental transition from widespread to fragmented cortical network activity. Atypical general movements characterized by reduced complexity and variation are attributed to impaired integrity of extensive cortical-subcortical networks.