Fidgety movements – tiny in appearance, but huge in impact

Abstract Objectives: To describe fidgety movements (FMs), i.e., the spontaneous movement pattern that typically occurs at 3–5 months after term age, and discuss its clinical relevance. Sources: A comprehensive literature search was performed using the following databases: MEDLINE/PubMed, CINAHL, The Cochrane Library, Science Direct, PsycINFO, and EMBASE. The search strategy included the MeSH terms and search strings (‘fidgety movement*’) OR [(‘general movement*’) AND (‘three month*’) OR (‘3 month*’)], as well as studies published on the General Movements Trust website (www.general-movements-trust.info). Summary of the data: Virtually all infants develop normally if FMs are present and normal, even if their brain ultrasound findings and/or clinical histories indicate a disposition to later neurological deficits. Conversely, almost all infants who never develop FMs have a high risk for neurological deficits such as cerebral palsy, and for genetic disorders with a late onset. If FMs are normal but concurrent postural patterns are not age-adequate or the overall movement character is monotonous, cognitive and/or language skills at school age will be suboptimal. Abnormal FMs are unspecific and have a low predictive power, but occur exceedingly in infants later diagnosed with autism. Conclusions: Abnormal, absent, or sporadic FMs indicate an increased risk for later neurological dysfunction, whereas normal FMs are highly predictive of normal development, especially if they co-occur with other smooth and fluent movements. Early recognition of neurological signs facilitates early intervention. It is important to re-assure parents of infants with clinical risk factors that the neurological outcome will be adequate if FMs develop normally.