Dear Jonathan, Thanks for sending this around – it is a really stimulating idea. Personally speaking, I am not aware of any empirical work that has actually measured maternal footsteps - or any other rhythmic movement induced sound - in utero. The studies I know of on the intrauterine soundscape (I am not a specialist in this field as I work mostly with premature infants- so do not take my word for it) give global levels and spectra, but not event-specific waveforms, so I do not think we currently have data that would let you specify a “real” amplitude envelope for footsteps in a strong, evidence-based way. Conceptually, I would be inclined to treat gait-related input as slow, low-frequency modulations of an already noisy vibroacoustic field, tightly coupled to vestibular input, rather than as discrete, sharply defined acoustic impulses. In any given case SNR for any ‘“auditory” related source (even if assumed; considering also that the intrauterine acoustic neurosystemic function is not the same as ex-utero) will be too low considering the already messy sound environment in utero. I think that one way to make this useful in your modeling would be to show that your results are robust across a family of plausible envelopes: e.g., band-limited low-frequency “bursts” with different rise times, durations, and dynamic ranges, all occurring at gait rate and co-occurring with vestibular cycles. That lets you argue that what really matters is the regular, low-frequency temporal structure and multi-sensory coupling, not the precise acoustic fine structure of each step. I’d be very happy to discuss further or look at a draft/preprint if that would be useful. All best, Professor Efthymios (Timos) Papatzikis PhD, PhD, FHEA, Cert.Neuro. - Neuroscience and Medical Psychology, School of Health Sciences and Psychology, Canadian University Dubai, U.A.E. - NICU Senior Research Fellow, ‘Panagiotis and Aglaia Kyriakou’ Children’s Hospital, Athens, Greece - World Health Organization roster of consultants for Brain Health - World Health Organization certified specialist for Social Prescribing - Associate Editor - Frontiers in Pediatric Psychology Journal I may write emails at unusual hours. Please don’t feel obligated to reply until your normal working time. Our personal time and moments with family are limited and precious; safeguarding them helps us bring our best to our work.
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