While larger studies are underway, the researchers have
presented their results at national and international meetings
of equine veterinarians, and many veterinarians and clinics
are treating maladjusted foals with the squeeze procedure —
now called the Madigan Foal Squeeze Procedure.
Madigan cautions that, in spite of the strong observational
effects, a larger, controlled clinical trial of national and
international scope is now needed to reproduce those observed
results and provide a better understanding of the processes
that occur in the foals.
‘A strong tactile stimulation’
“We don’t fully understand the mechanisms that are at work here, but it
appears that the rope restraint provides strong tactile stimulation, similar to
what the foal should experience during labor and passage through the birth
canal,” he said.
Using brain-wave studies conducted by Monica Aleman, the
researchers have confirmed that the foals truly go into slowwave sleep with the squeeze procedure, and endocrine changes
also occur with the squeeze.
"We have the unique ability to obtain brain wave data to
determine the nature of some of the brain changes with the
neurosteroids in the neonatal horse," Aleman said.
Mirrors ‘kangaroo care’ for human babies
Madigan says the findings are not without precedent in human
medicine, citing anecdotal evidence that tactile pressure
appears to also be important for infants.
In the second stage of labour, an important signal tells the foal
to quit producing the sedative neurosteroids and ‘wake up.’
“There are reports of very sick newborn babies, determined unlikely to
survive, making seemingly miraculous, spontaneous recoveries after being
placed in the arms of a grieving parent for a last embrace,” Madigan said.
“Perhaps those babies benefited from some form of squeeze-induced
stimulation or neuroactivation – similar to what we’re seeing in the foals.”
He noted that many hospitals are making newborn “kangaroo care” —
immediate skin-to-skin contact with the mother as well as swaddling in
a light blanket — standard procedures right after birth. Premature infant
survival is dramatically improved when kangaroo care is implemented, he
said.
Baby feels like it’s in the womb
“Kangaroo care makes babies feel like they are in the womb,”
said Mark Underwood, chief of paediatric neonatology at the
UC Davis Children’s Hospital. “In newborn babies that have
received kangaroo care, we see their heart rates stabilise,
their sleep deepen and agitation decrease.”
Underwood and Madigan have discussed the neonatal
maladjusted syndrome in foals as well as some of the
similarities between human and horse babies.
Labour affects steroid levels
“In human babies, we don’t yet know what it is about the
kangaroo care type of holding that is effective,” Underwood
said. “We do know, however, that in babies, labour brings
interesting changes in steroid levels.”
Madigan adds that earlier medical studies that have found
concentrations of neurosteroids, similar to those found in
neonatal foals are present after birth and then rapidly decline
in both full-term and early-term human babies. However after
12 hours, the preterm infants have significantly higher levels
of those neurosteroids than do the full-term infants, mirroring
what is seen in foals with the maladjustment syndrome.
Link to Autism?
The early findings by Madigan and colleagues have compelling
implications for the health of newborn foals, but have also
caused the researchers to explore possible links to autism
in children. Autism, or autism spectrum disorder, refers
to a group of complex brain-development disorders. While
the symptoms vary, the disorder generally is marked by
difficulties with social interactions, verbal and nonverbal
communication, and repetitive behaviours.
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38 •• The
The Australian
Australian Quarter
Quarter Horse
Horse Magazine
Magazine •• July
July •• August
August 2015
2015
There is a long history in medical and veterinary medical
research, including at UC Davis, of looking for similar
symptoms and disorders in a variety of animal species — an
approach that has come to be known as One Health. When
Madigan decided to examine possible links between the foal
disorder and childhood autism, he approached Pessah with
videos of foals affected by the maladjustment syndrome.
Foal Behaviours Resemble Autism
‘There are thousands of potential causes for autism, but the one thing that
all autistic children have in common is that they are detached.’
— Isaac Pessah
“The concept that a disruption in the transition of foetal
consciousness may be related to children with autism is intriguing,”
said Pessah, confirming that the behaviours seen in the
maladjusted foal syndrome truly are reminiscent of those in
autistic children.
He notes that some children with autism do outgrow autistic
behaviours by the time they reach their teen years. Could
this be a parallel to the recovery of the foals with the
maladjustment syndrome?
Investigating possible links
A new group called the Comparative Neurology Research
Group, consisting of veterinarians, physicians, epidemiologists
and basic-science researchers, has formed to pursue further
studies in this area. Madigan is working with researchers at
the Stanford School of Medicine, exploring the mechanisms
of post-birth transitions of consciousness related to kangaroo
care of infants.
Using data from the foal research, Pessah, Madigan and
Aleman are working with environmental epidemiologist Irva
Hertz-Picciotto at the UC Davis MIND Institute to investigate
neurosteroids in children with varying degrees of autism,
ranging from some developmental delay to full-spectrum
autism.
The researchers are exploring whether abnormal regulation of
neurosteroids during the time around childbirth could be one
of many factors that might contribute to autism and related
neurodevelopment disorders. H