A quick, non-invasive, non-intrusive and cost-effective method with high reliability and high validity is much in demand for the early detection of neurological anomalies which point to cerebral palsy and developmental deficits later on in life. Over his years as a distinguished developmental neurologist, Heinz Prechtl has devised such a method; a qualitative assessment of general movements (GMs) as a specific predictor for neurological impairments. His method is described in this book. GMs form part of a distinct pattern of movements in preterm babies, term newborns and young infants. They are complex, frequent, and usually of sufficient length. Changes in the normal quality of GMs are a reliable indicator of brain dysfunction.

Christa Einspieler has been working in behavioural analysis for over 20 years. She is currently Associate Professor in Physiology at the Medical University of Graz. Her main research topics are the ontogeny of behaviour, fetal movements, motor development in preterm, term and young infants, age-specific neurological assessments, neurolinguistics, and development of laterality. She is author or co-author of more than 70 scientific papers in indexed journals, and has contributed to more than 20 books from international publishers.