Fig. 3: Neonatal inflammation is associated with increased spinal cord excitability and arousal-related brain activity during a tactile stimulus, and noxious-evoked brain activity results from an exploratory study.

a (Top) Average electromyography (EMG) traces during a tactile stimulus for participants in the Neonatal Control Group (blue, n = 36) and Neonatal Inflammation Group (gold, n = 21, CRP > 10 mg/l or presented evidence of infection). (Bottom) Root mean square (RMS) of the reflex withdrawal in the limb ipsilateral to the tactile stimulus site in the two groups. The difference between groups was assessed using a two-sample, one-sided t test; t = 1.85, *p = 0.037. b (Top) Group average (Woody) filtered electroencephalography (EEG) traces in response to a tactile stimulus; Neonatal Control Group (n = 29) and Neonatal Inflammation Group (n = 19). The evoked potential is shown overlaid in teal. (Bottom) Magnitude of the brain activity following a tactile stimulus in the two groups. The difference between groups was assessed using a two-sample, one-sided t test; t = 2.66, *p = 0.007. c Exploratory study: (Top) Group average (Woody) filtered EEG traces in response to the clinically required heel lance; Neonatal Antibiotic Control Group (blue, n = 8) and Neonatal Antibiotic Treatment Group (purple, n = 12). The template of noxious-evoked brain activity³⁸ is shown overlaid in red. (Bottom) Magnitude of the noxious-evoked brain activity following heel lance in the two groups. In a–c dashed lines indicate the point of stimulation and error bars indicate mean ± standard error. a.u: arbitrary units. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.