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Kautto A, Railo H, Mainela-Arnold E. Low-Level Auditory Processing Correlates With Language Abilities: An ERP Study Investigating Sequence Learning and Auditory Processing in School-Aged Children. NEUROBIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE (CAMBRIDGE, MASS.) 2024; 5:341-359. [PMID: 38832360 PMCID: PMC11093401 DOI: 10.1162/nol_a_00129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2023] [Accepted: 12/01/2023] [Indexed: 06/05/2024]
Abstract
Auditory processing and procedural learning deficits have been associated with language learning difficulties. We investigated the relationship of these skills and school-age language abilities in children with and without a history of late talking using auditory event related potentials (ERPs). Late talking (i.e., slow early language development) increases the risk of persistent language difficulties, but its causes remain unknown. Participants in this study were children with varying language abilities (n = 60). Half of the participants (n = 30) had a history of late talking. We measured procedural learning by manipulating the predictability of sine tone stimuli in a passive auditory ERP paradigm. Auditory processing was tested by examining how the presence of noise (increasing perceptual demands) affected the ERPs. Contrary to our hypotheses on auditory processing and language development, the effect of noise on ERPs did not correlate with school-age language abilities in children with or without a history of late talking. Our paradigm failed to reveal interpretable effects of predictability leaving us unable to assess the effects of procedural learning. However, better language abilities were related to weaker responses in a 75-175 ms time window, and stronger responses in a 150-250 ms time window. We suggest that the weak early responses in children with better language ability reflect efficient processing of low-level auditory information, allowing deeper processing of later, high-level auditory information. We assume that these differences reflect variation in brain maturation between individuals with varying language abilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Kautto
- Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Henry Railo
- Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Elina Mainela-Arnold
- Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
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Granovetter MC, Maallo AMS, Ling S, Robert S, Freud E, Patterson C, Behrmann M. Functional Resilience of the Neural Visual Recognition System Post-Pediatric Occipitotemporal Resection. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.05.08.592792. [PMID: 38766137 PMCID: PMC11100714 DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.08.592792] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2024]
Abstract
In the typically developing (TD) brain, neural representations for visual stimulus categories (e.g., faces, objects, and words) emerge in bilateral occipitotemporal cortex (OTC), albeit with weighted asymmetry; in parallel, recognition behavior continues to be refined. A fundamental question is whether two hemispheres are necessary or redundant for the emergence of neural representations and recognition behavior typically distributed across both hemispheres. The rare population of patients undergoing unilateral OTC resection in childhood offers a unique opportunity to evaluate whether neural computations for visual stimulus individuation suffice for recognition with only a single developing OTC. Here, using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we mapped category selectivity (CS) and neural representations for individual stimulus exemplars using repetition suppression (RS) in the non-resected hemisphere of pediatric OTC resection patients (n = 9) and control patients with resection outside of OTC (n = 12), as well as in both hemispheres of TD controls (n = 21). There were no univariate group differences in the magnitude of CS or RS or any multivariate differences (per representational similarity analysis) in neural activation to faces, objects, or words across groups. Notwithstanding their comparable neural profiles, accuracy of OTC resection patients on face and object recognition, but not word recognition, was statistically inferior to that of controls. The comparable neural signature of the OTC resection patients' preserved hemisphere and the other two groups highlights the resilience of the system following damage to the contralateral homologue. Critically, however, a single OTC does not suffice for normal behavior, and, thereby, implicates the necessity for two hemispheres.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael C. Granovetter
- School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Anne Margarette S. Maallo
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Shouyu Ling
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Sophia Robert
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Erez Freud
- Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, ON, CA
| | | | - Marlene Behrmann
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
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Nourski KV, Steinschneider M, Rhone AE, Dappen ER, Kawasaki H, Howard MA. Processing of auditory novelty in human cortex during a semantic categorization task. Hear Res 2024; 444:108972. [PMID: 38359485 PMCID: PMC10984345 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2024.108972] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2024] [Revised: 02/05/2024] [Accepted: 02/10/2024] [Indexed: 02/17/2024]
Abstract
Auditory semantic novelty - a new meaningful sound in the context of a predictable acoustical environment - can probe neural circuits involved in language processing. Aberrant novelty detection is a feature of many neuropsychiatric disorders. This large-scale human intracranial electrophysiology study examined the spatial distribution of gamma and alpha power and auditory evoked potentials (AEP) associated with responses to unexpected words during performance of semantic categorization tasks. Participants were neurosurgical patients undergoing monitoring for medically intractable epilepsy. Each task included repeatedly presented monosyllabic words from different talkers ("common") and ten words presented only once ("novel"). Targets were words belonging to a specific semantic category. Novelty effects were defined as differences between neural responses to novel and common words. Novelty increased task difficulty and was associated with augmented gamma, suppressed alpha power, and AEP differences broadly distributed across the cortex. Gamma novelty effect had the highest prevalence in planum temporale, posterior superior temporal gyrus (STG) and pars triangularis of the inferior frontal gyrus; alpha in anterolateral Heschl's gyrus (HG), anterior STG and middle anterior cingulate cortex; AEP in posteromedial HG, lower bank of the superior temporal sulcus, and planum polare. Gamma novelty effect had a higher prevalence in dorsal than ventral auditory-related areas. Novelty effects were more pronounced in the left hemisphere. Better novel target detection was associated with reduced gamma novelty effect within auditory cortex and enhanced gamma effect within prefrontal and sensorimotor cortex. Alpha and AEP novelty effects were generally more prevalent in better performing participants. Multiple areas, including auditory cortex on the superior temporal plane, featured AEP novelty effect within the time frame of P3a and N400 scalp-recorded novelty-related potentials. This work provides a detailed account of auditory novelty in a paradigm that directly examined brain regions associated with semantic processing. Future studies may aid in the development of objective measures to assess the integrity of semantic novelty processing in clinical populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirill V Nourski
- Department of Neurosurgery, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States; Iowa Neuroscience Institute, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States.
| | - Mitchell Steinschneider
- Department of Neurosurgery, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States; Departments of Neurology, Neuroscience, and Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, United States
| | - Ariane E Rhone
- Department of Neurosurgery, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States
| | - Emily R Dappen
- Department of Neurosurgery, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States; Iowa Neuroscience Institute, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States
| | - Hiroto Kawasaki
- Department of Neurosurgery, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States
| | - Matthew A Howard
- Department of Neurosurgery, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States; Iowa Neuroscience Institute, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States; Pappajohn Biomedical Institute, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States
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Saurels BW, Johnston A, Yarrow K, Arnold DH. Event Probabilities Have a Different Impact on Early and Late Electroencephalographic Measures Regarded as Metrics of Prediction. J Cogn Neurosci 2024; 36:187-199. [PMID: 37902587 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_02076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/31/2023]
Abstract
The oddball protocol has been used to study the neural and perceptual consequences of implicit predictions in the human brain. The protocol involves presenting a sequence of identical repeated events that are eventually broken by a novel "oddball" presentation. Oddball presentations have been linked to increased neural responding and to an exaggeration of perceived duration relative to repeated events. Because the number of repeated events in such protocols is circumscribed, as more repeats are encountered, the conditional probability of a further repeat decreases-whereas the conditional probability of an oddball increases. These facts have not been appreciated in many analyses of oddballs; repeats and oddballs have rather been treated as binary event categories. Here, we show that the human brain is sensitive to conditional event probabilities in an active, visual oddball paradigm. P300 responses (a relatively late component of visually evoked potentials measured with EEG) tended to be greater for less likely oddballs and repeats. By contrast, P1 responses (an earlier component) increased for repeats as a goal-relevant target presentation neared, but this effect occurred even when repeat probabilities were held constant, and oddball P1 responses were invariant. We also found that later, more likely oddballs seemed to last longer, and this effect was largely independent of the number of preceding repeats. These findings speak against a repetition suppression account of the temporal oddball effect. Overall, our data highlight an impact of event probability on later, rather than earlier, electroencephalographic measures previously related to predictive processes-and the importance of considering conditional probabilities in sequential presentation paradigms.
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Clements CC, Ascunce K, Nelson CA. In Context: A Developmental Model of Reward Processing, With Implications for Autism and Sensitive Periods. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2023; 62:1200-1216. [PMID: 36336205 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2022.07.861] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2021] [Revised: 07/15/2022] [Accepted: 10/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Differences in reward processing have been associated with numerous psychiatric disorders, including autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Many attempts to understand reward processing characterize differences in clinical populations after disorder onset; however, divergence may begin much earlier. In fact, the typical developmental progression of reward processing in infancy and early childhood is poorly understood. We re-conceptualize classic infant developmental constructs such as preferential looking into a Six-Component Developmental Model of Reward Processing: an infant- and young child-focused framework to guide research and assessment of reward processing across development. METHOD The extant developmental literature including recent textbooks, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses was reviewed to build a conceptual framework. We describe experimental paradigms to assess each developmental component of reward processing longitudinally from infancy. A timeline of each component's emergence was estimated. RESULTS Six components of reward processing were identified-association, discrimination, preference/valuation, effort, anticipation, and response. Selected evidence suggests emergence between birth and 6 months. Application of this model to autism led to a reinterpretation of existing disparate results, and illuminated a path to study the developmental processes underlying a popular hypothesis of autism, the motivation hypothesis. Current evidence further suggests that a sensitive period may exist for the emergence of reward processing. CONCLUSION The proposed framework offers a useful reconceptualization of the extant literature. Future longitudinal work using the suggested experimental paradigms with high-risk populations could elucidate the developmental trajectory of the components and timing of potential sensitive period(s) for each component.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caitlin C Clements
- Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, Division of Developmental Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Massachusetts.
| | | | - Charles A Nelson
- Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, Division of Developmental Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Massachusetts; Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, Massachusetts
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Merchie A, Gomot M. Habituation, Adaptation and Prediction Processes in Neurodevelopmental Disorders: A Comprehensive Review. Brain Sci 2023; 13:1110. [PMID: 37509040 PMCID: PMC10377027 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13071110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2023] [Revised: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 07/20/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Habituation, the simplest form of learning preserved across species and evolution, is characterized by a response decrease as a stimulus is repeated. This adaptive function has been shown to be altered in some psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or schizophrenia. At the brain level, habituation is characterized by a decrease in neural activity as a stimulation is repeated, referred to as neural adaptation. This phenomenon influences the ability to make predictions and to detect change, two processes altered in some neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. In this comprehensive review, the objectives are to characterize habituation, neural adaptation, and prediction throughout typical development and in neurodevelopmental disorders; and to evaluate their implication in symptomatology, specifically in sensitivity to change or need for sameness. A summary of the different approaches to investigate adaptation will be proposed, in which we report the contribution of animal studies as well as electrophysiological studies in humans to understanding of underlying neuronal mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Marie Gomot
- UMR 1253 iBrain, Université de Tours, INSERM, 37000 Tours, France
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Cantiani C, Dondena C, Molteni M, Riva V, Lorusso ML. Intergenerational longitudinal associations between parental reading/musical traits, infants' auditory processing, and later phonological awareness skills. Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1201997. [PMID: 37539387 PMCID: PMC10394385 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1201997] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2023] [Accepted: 06/19/2023] [Indexed: 08/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The intergenerational transmission of language/reading skills has been demonstrated by evidence reporting that parental literacy abilities contribute to the prediction of their offspring's language and reading skills. According to the "Intergenerational Multiple Deficit Model," literacy abilities of both parents are viewed as indicators of offspring's liability for literacy difficulties, since parents provide offspring with genetic and environmental endowment. Recently, studies focusing on the heritability of musical traits reached similar conclusions. The "Musical Abilities, Pleiotropy, Language, and Environment (MAPLE)" framework proposed that language/reading and musical traits share a common genetic architecture, and such shared components have an influence on the heritable neural underpinnings of basic-level skills underlying musical and language traits. Here, we investigate the intergenerational transmission of parental musical and language-related (reading) abilities on their offspring's neural response to a basic auditory stimulation (neural intermediate phenotype) and later phonological awareness skills, including in this complex association pattern the mediating effect of home environment. One-hundred and seventy-six families were involved in this study. Through self-report questionnaires we assessed parental reading abilities and musicality, as well as home literacy and musical environment. Offspring were involved in a longitudinal study: auditory processing was measured at 6 months of age by means of a Rapid Auditory Processing electrophysiological paradigm, and phonological awareness was assessed behaviorally at 5 years of age. Results reveal significant correlations between parents' reading skills and musical traits. Intergenerational associations were investigated through mediation analyses using structural equation modeling. For reading traits, the results revealed that paternal reading was indirectly associated with children's phonological awareness skills via their electrophysiological MisMatch Response at 6 months, while maternal reading was directly associated with children's phonological awareness. For musical traits, we found again that paternal musicality, rather than maternal characteristics, was associated with children's phonological phenotypes: in this case, the association was mediated by musical environment. These results provide some insight about the intergenerational pathways linking parental reading and musical traits, neural underpinnings of infants' auditory processing and later phonological awareness skills. Besides shedding light on possible intergenerational transmission mechanisms, this study may open up new perspectives for early intervention based on environmental enrichment.
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Katus L, Blasi A, McCann S, Mason L, Mbye E, Touray E, Ceesay M, de Haan M, Moore SE, Elwell CE, Lloyd-Fox S, Team TBS. Longitudinal fNIRS and EEG metrics of habituation and novelty detection are correlated in 1-18-month-old infants. Neuroimage 2023; 274:120153. [PMID: 37146782 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2023] [Revised: 04/06/2023] [Accepted: 05/01/2023] [Indexed: 05/07/2023] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION . Habituation and novelty detection are two fundamental and widely studied neurocognitive processes. Whilst neural responses to repetitive and novel sensory input have been well-documented across a range of neuroimaging modalities, it is not yet fully understood how well these different modalities are able to describe consistent neural response patterns. This is particularly true for infants and young children, as different assessment modalities might show differential sensitivity to underlying neural processes across age. Thus far, many neurodevelopmental studies are limited in either sample size, longitudinal scope or breadth of measures employed, impeding investigations of how well common developmental trends can be captured via different methods. METHOD . This study assessed habituation and novelty detection in N = 204 infants using EEG and fNIRS measured in two separate paradigms, but within the same study visit, at 1, 5 and 18 months of age in an infant cohort in rural Gambia. EEG was acquired during an auditory oddball paradigm during which infants were presented with Frequent, Infrequent and Trial Unique sounds. In the fNIRS paradigm, infants were familiarised to a sentence of infant-directed speech, novelty detection was assessed via a change in speaker. Indices for habituation and novelty detection were extracted for both EEG and NIRS RESULTS: . We found evidence for weak to medium positive correlations between responses on the fNIRS and the EEG paradigms for indices of both habituation and novelty detection at most age points. Habituation indices correlated across modalities at 1 month and 5 months but not 18 months of age, and novelty responses were significantly correlated at 5 months and 18 months, but not at 1 month. Infants who showed robust habituation responses also showed robust novelty responses across both assessment modalities. DISCUSSION . This study is the first to examine concurrent correlations across two neuroimaging modalities across several longitudinal age points. Examining habituation and novelty detection, we show that despite the use of two different testing modalities, stimuli and timescale, it is possible to extract common neural metrics across a wide age range in infants. We suggest that these positive correlations might be strongest at times of greatest developmental change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Katus
- School of Human Sciences, University of Greenwich; Centre for Family Research, University of Cambridge.
| | - Anna Blasi
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London
| | - Sam McCann
- Department of Women and Children's Health, Kings College London
| | - Luke Mason
- Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, King's College London
| | - Ebrima Mbye
- MRC Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
| | - Ebou Touray
- MRC Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
| | - Muhammed Ceesay
- MRC Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
| | - Michelle de Haan
- Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London; Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, London
| | - Sophie E Moore
- Department of Women and Children's Health, Kings College London; MRC Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
| | - Clare E Elwell
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London
| | | | - The Bright Study Team
- The BRIGHT Study team are (in alphabetical order): Lena Acolatse, Chiara Bulgarelli, Maria-Magdalena Crespo Llado, Momodou K. Darboe, Saikou Drammeh, Tijan Fadera, Giulia Ghillia, Buba Jobarteh, Marta Perapoch Amado, Andrew M. Prentice, Maria Rozhko, Mariama Saidykhan
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D'Mello AM, Frosch IR, Meisler SL, Grotzinger H, Perrachione TK, Gabrieli JDE. Diminished Repetition Suppression Reveals Selective and Systems-Level Face Processing Differences in ASD. J Neurosci 2023; 43:1952-1962. [PMID: 36759192 PMCID: PMC10027049 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0608-22.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2022] [Revised: 01/24/2023] [Accepted: 01/28/2023] [Indexed: 02/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Repeated exposure to a stimulus results in reduced neural response, or repetition suppression, in brain regions responsible for processing that stimulus. This rapid accommodation to repetition is thought to underlie learning, stimulus selectivity, and strengthening of perceptual expectations. Importantly, reduced sensitivity to repetition has been identified in several neurodevelopmental, learning, and psychiatric disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by challenges in social communication and repetitive behaviors and restricted interests. Reduced ability to exploit or learn from repetition in ASD is hypothesized to contribute to sensory hypersensitivities, and parallels several theoretical frameworks claiming that ASD individuals show difficulty using regularities in the environment to facilitate behavior. Using fMRI in autistic and neurotypical human adults (females and males), we assessed the status of repetition suppression across two modalities (vision, audition) and with four stimulus categories (faces, objects, printed words, and spoken words). ASD individuals showed domain-specific reductions in repetition suppression for face stimuli only, but not for objects, printed words, or spoken words. Reduced repetition suppression for faces was associated with greater challenges in social communication in ASD. We also found altered functional connectivity between atypically adapting cortical regions and higher-order face recognition regions, and microstructural differences in related white matter tracts in ASD. These results suggest that fundamental neural mechanisms and system-wide circuits are selectively altered for face processing in ASD and enhance our understanding of how disruptions in the formation of stable face representations may relate to higher-order social communication processes.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT A common finding in neuroscience is that repetition results in plasticity in stimulus-specific processing regions, reflecting selectivity and adaptation (repetition suppression [RS]). RS is reduced in several neurodevelopmental and psychiatric conditions including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Theoretical frameworks of ASD posit that reduced adaptation may contribute to associated challenges in social communication and sensory processing. However, the scope of RS differences in ASD is unknown. We examined RS for multiple categories across visual and auditory domains (faces, objects, printed words, spoken words) in autistic and neurotypical individuals. We found reduced RS in ASD for face stimuli only and altered functional connectivity and white matter microstructure between cortical face-recognition areas. RS magnitude correlated with social communication challenges among autistic individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anila M D'Mello
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139
| | - Isabelle R Frosch
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139
| | - Steven L Meisler
- Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02115
| | - Hannah Grotzinger
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139
| | - Tyler K Perrachione
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215
| | - John D E Gabrieli
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139
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Larson LM, Feuerriegel D, Hasan MI, Braat S, Jin J, Tipu SMU, Shiraji S, Tofail F, Biggs BA, Hamadani JD, Johnson KA, Bode S, Pasricha SR. Effects of iron supplementation on neural indices of habituation in Bangladeshi children. Am J Clin Nutr 2023; 117:73-82. [PMID: 36789946 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2022.11.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2022] [Revised: 11/23/2022] [Accepted: 11/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Iron deficiency and anemia have been associated with poor cognition in children, yet the effects of iron supplementation on neurocognition remain unclear. OBJECTIVE We aimed to examine the effects of supplementation with iron on neural indices of habituation using auditory event-related brain potentials (ERPs). METHODS This substudy was nested within a 3-arm, double-blind, double-dummy, individual randomized trial in Bangladesh, in which 3300 8-mo-old children were randomly selected to receive 3 mo of daily iron syrup (12.5 mg iron), multiple micronutrient powders (MNPs) (including 12.5 mg iron), or placebo. Children were assessed after 3 mo of intervention (mo 3) and 9 mo thereafter (mo 12). The neurocognitive substudy comprised a randomly selected subset of children from the main trial. Brain activity elicited during an auditory roving oddball task was recorded using electroencephalography to provide an index of habituation. The differential response to a novel (deviant) compared with a repeated (standard) sound was examined. The primary outcome was the amplitude of the mismatch response (deviant minusstandard tone waveforms) at mo 3. Secondary outcomes included the deviant and standard tone-evoked amplitudes, N2 amplitude differences, and differences in mean amplitudes evoked by deviant tones presented in the second compared with first half of the oddball sequence at mo 3 and 12. RESULTS Data were analyzed from 329 children at month 3 and 363 at mo 12. Analyses indicated no treatment effects of iron interventions compared with placebo on the amplitude of the mismatch response (iron syrup compared with placebo: mean difference (MD) = 0.07μV [95% CI: -1.22, 1.37]; MNPs compared with placebo: MD = 0.58μV [95% CI: -0.74, 1.90]) nor any secondary ERP outcomes at mo 3 or 12, despite improvements in hemoglobin and ferritin concentrations from iron syrup and MNPs in this nested substudy. CONCLUSION In Bangladeshi children with >40% anemia prevalence, iron or MNP interventions alone are insufficient to improve neural indices of habituation. This trial was registered at the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry as ACTRN12617000660381.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leila M Larson
- Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA; Population Health and Immunity Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Department of Infectious Diseases at the Peter Doherty Institute, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
| | - Daniel Feuerriegel
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Mohammed Imrul Hasan
- Maternal and Child Health Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Sabine Braat
- Population Health and Immunity Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Department of Infectious Diseases at the Peter Doherty Institute, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Australia
| | - Jerry Jin
- Department of Infectious Diseases at the Peter Doherty Institute, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Sm Mulk Uddin Tipu
- Maternal and Child Health Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Shamima Shiraji
- Maternal and Child Health Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Fahmida Tofail
- Maternal and Child Health Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Beverley-Ann Biggs
- Department of Infectious Diseases at the Peter Doherty Institute, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; The Victorian Infectious Diseases Service, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Jena D Hamadani
- Maternal and Child Health Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Katherine A Johnson
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Stefan Bode
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Sant-Rayn Pasricha
- Population Health and Immunity Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Diagnostic Hematology, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville VIC, Australia; Diagnostic Hematology and Clinical Hematology, The Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville VIC, Australia; Department of Medical Biology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
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Yates TS, Ellis CT, Turk‐Browne NB. Face processing in the infant brain after pandemic lockdown. Dev Psychobiol 2023; 65:e22346. [PMID: 36567649 PMCID: PMC9877889 DOI: 10.1002/dev.22346] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2022] [Revised: 09/13/2022] [Accepted: 10/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
The role of visual experience in the development of face processing has long been debated. We present a new angle on this question through a serendipitous study that cannot easily be repeated. Infants viewed short blocks of faces during fMRI in a repetition suppression task. The same identity was presented multiple times in half of the blocks (repeat condition) and different identities were presented once each in the other half (novel condition). In adults, the fusiform face area (FFA) tends to show greater neural activity for novel versus repeat blocks in such designs, suggesting that it can distinguish same versus different face identities. As part of an ongoing study, we collected data before the COVID-19 pandemic and after an initial local lockdown was lifted. The resulting sample of 12 infants (9-24 months) divided equally into pre- and post-lockdown groups with matching ages and data quantity/quality. The groups had strikingly different FFA responses: pre-lockdown infants showed repetition suppression (novel > repeat), whereas post-lockdown infants showed the opposite (repeat > novel), often referred to as repetition enhancement. These findings provide speculative evidence that altered visual experience during the lockdown, or other correlated environmental changes, may have affected face processing in the infant brain.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Cameron T. Ellis
- Department of PsychologyStanford UniversityStanfordCaliforniaUSA
| | - Nicholas B. Turk‐Browne
- Department of PsychologyYale UniversityNew HavenConnecticutUSA,Wu Tsai InstituteYale UniversityNew HavenConnecticutUSA
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12
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Dumont V, Giovannella M, Zuba D, Clouard R, Durduran T, Guillois B, Roche-Labarbe N. Somatosensory prediction in the premature neonate brain. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2022; 57:101148. [PMID: 36027649 PMCID: PMC9428805 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2022.101148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2022] [Revised: 07/11/2022] [Accepted: 08/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Sensory prediction (SP) is at the core of early cognitive development. Impaired SP may be a key to understanding the emergence of neurodevelopmental disorders, however there is little data on how and when this skill emerges. We set out to provide evidence of SP in the brain of premature neonates in the fundamental sensory modality: touch. Using Diffuse Correlation Spectroscopy, we measured blood flow changes in the somatosensory cortex of premature neonates presented with a vibrotactile stimulation-omission sequence. When ISI was fixed, participants presented a decrease in blood flow during stimulus omissions, starting when a stimulus should begin: the expectation of a certain stimulus onset induced deactivation of the somatosensory cortex. When ISI was jittered, we observed an increase in blood flow during omissions: the expectation of a likely but not certain stimulus onset induced activation of the somatosensory cortex. Our results reveal SP in the brain as early as four weeks before term, based on the temporal structure of a unimodal somatosensory stimulation, and show that SP produces opposite regulation of activity in the somatosensory cortex depending on how liable is stimulus onset. Future studies will investigate the predictive value of somatosensory prediction on neurodevelopment in this vulnerable population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victoria Dumont
- Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, LPCN, 14000 Caen, France; Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, INSERM, COMETE, 14000 Caen, France.
| | - Martina Giovannella
- ICFO-Institut de Ciències Fotòniques, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Castelldefels (Barcelona), Spain
| | - Daniel Zuba
- Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, INSERM, COMETE, 14000 Caen, France; CHU, 14000 Caen, France
| | - Régis Clouard
- Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, ENSICAEN, CNRS, GREYC, 14000 Caen, France
| | - Turgut Durduran
- ICFO-Institut de Ciències Fotòniques, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Castelldefels (Barcelona), Spain; Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), 08015 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Bernard Guillois
- Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, LPCN, 14000 Caen, France; CHU, 14000 Caen, France
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13
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Vanoncini M, Boll-Avetisyan N, Elsner B, Hoehl S, Kayhan E. The role of mother-infant emotional synchrony in speech processing in 9-month-old infants. Infant Behav Dev 2022; 69:101772. [PMID: 36137465 DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2022.101772] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2022] [Revised: 08/29/2022] [Accepted: 08/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Rhythmicity characterizes both interpersonal synchrony and spoken language. Emotions and language are forms of interpersonal communication, which interact with each other throughout development. We investigated whether and how emotional synchrony between mothers and their 9-month-old infants relates to infants' word segmentation as an early marker of language development. Twenty-six 9-month-old infants and their German-speaking mothers took part in the study. To measure emotional synchrony, we coded positive, neutral and negative emotional expressions of the mothers and their infants during a free play session. We then calculated the degree to which the mothers' and their infants' matching emotional expressions followed a predictable pattern. To measure word segmentation, we familiarized infants with auditory text passages and tested how long they looked at the screen while listening to familiar versus novel words. We found that higher levels of predictability (i.e. low entropy) during mother-infant interaction is associated with infants' word segmentation performance. These findings suggest that individual differences in word segmentation relate to the complexity and predictability of emotional expressions during mother-infant interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monica Vanoncini
- Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Potsdam, Germany; Department of Linguistics, University of Potsdam, Germany; Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria.
| | | | - Birgit Elsner
- Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Potsdam, Germany
| | - Stefanie Hoehl
- Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria
| | - Ezgi Kayhan
- Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Potsdam, Germany; Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences. Leipzig, Germany
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14
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Neural specialization to human faces at the age of 7 months. Sci Rep 2022; 12:12471. [PMID: 35864182 PMCID: PMC9304373 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-16691-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2021] [Accepted: 07/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Sensitivity to human faces has been suggested to be an early emerging capacity that promotes social interaction. However, the developmental processes that lead to cortical specialization to faces has remained unclear. The current study investigated both cortical sensitivity and categorical specificity through event-related potentials (ERPs) previously implicated in face processing in 7-month-old infants (N290) and adults (N170). Using a category-specific repetition/adaptation paradigm, cortical specificity to human faces, or control stimuli (cat faces), was operationalized as changes in ERP amplitude between conditions where a face probe was alternated with categorically similar or dissimilar adaptors. In adults, increased N170 for human vs. cat faces and category-specific release from adaptation for face probes alternated with cat adaptors was found. In infants, a larger N290 was found for cat vs. human probes. Category-specific repetition effects were also found in infant N290 and the P1-N290 peak-to-peak response where latter indicated category-specific release from adaptation for human face probes resembling that found in adults. The results suggest cortical specificity to human faces during the first year of life. Encoding of unfamiliar cat stimuli might explain N290 amplification found in infants.
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15
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López-Arango G, Deguire F, Agbogba K, Boucher MA, Knoth IS, El-Jalbout R, Côté V, Damphousse A, Kadoury S, Lippé S. Impact of brain overgrowth on sensorial learning processing during the first year of life. Front Hum Neurosci 2022; 16:928543. [PMID: 35927999 PMCID: PMC9344916 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.928543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2022] [Accepted: 06/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Macrocephaly is present in about 2–5% of the general population. It can be found as an isolated benign trait or as part of a syndromic condition. Brain overgrowth has been associated with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism during the first year of life, however, evidence remains inconclusive. Furthermore, most of the studies have involved pathological or high-risk populations, but little is known about the effects of brain overgrowth on neurodevelopment in otherwise neurotypical infants. We investigated the impact of brain overgrowth on basic perceptual learning processes (repetition effects and change detection response) during the first year of life. We recorded high density electroencephalograms (EEG) in 116 full-term healthy infants aged between 3 and 11 months, 35 macrocephalic (14 girls) and 81 normocephalic (39 girls) classified according to the WHO head circumference norms. We used an adapted oddball paradigm, time-frequency analyses, and auditory event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to investigate differences between groups. We show that brain overgrowth has a significant impact on repetition effects and change detection response in the 10–20 Hz frequency band, and in N450 latency, suggesting that these correlates of sensorial learning processes are sensitive to brain overgrowth during the first year of life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriela López-Arango
- Research Center, Sainte-Justine Hospital, Montreal University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Department of Neurosciences, Montreal University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- *Correspondence: Gabriela López-Arango,
| | - Florence Deguire
- Research Center, Sainte-Justine Hospital, Montreal University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Department of Psychology, Montreal University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Kristian Agbogba
- Research Center, Sainte-Justine Hospital, Montreal University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Polytechnique Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | | | - Inga S. Knoth
- Research Center, Sainte-Justine Hospital, Montreal University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Ramy El-Jalbout
- Research Center, Sainte-Justine Hospital, Montreal University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Department of Medical Imaging, Sainte-Justine Hospital, Montreal University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Valérie Côté
- Research Center, Sainte-Justine Hospital, Montreal University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Amélie Damphousse
- Research Center, Sainte-Justine Hospital, Montreal University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Department of Medical Imaging, Sainte-Justine Hospital, Montreal University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | | | - Sarah Lippé
- Research Center, Sainte-Justine Hospital, Montreal University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Department of Psychology, Montreal University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Sarah Lippé,
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16
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Naumann S, Bayer M, Dziobek I. Preschoolers’ Sensitivity to Negative and Positive Emotional Facial Expressions: An ERP Study. Front Psychol 2022; 13:828066. [PMID: 35712205 PMCID: PMC9197498 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.828066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2021] [Accepted: 04/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The study examined processing differences for facial expressions (happy, angry, or neutral) and their repetition with early (P1, N170) and late (P3) event-related potentials (ERPs) in young children (N = 33). EEG was recorded while children observed sequentially presented pairs of facial expressions, which were either the same (repeated trials) or differed in their emotion (novel trials). We also correlated ERP amplitude differences with parental and child measures of socio-emotional competence (emotion recognition, empathy). P1 amplitudes were increased for angry and happy as compared to neutral expressions. We also detected larger P3 amplitudes for angry expressions as compared to happy or neutral expressions. Repetition effects were evident at early and late processing stages marked by reduced P1 amplitudes for repeated vs. novel happy expressions, but enhanced P3 amplitudes for repeated vs. novel facial expressions. N170 amplitudes were neither modulated by facial expressions nor their repetition. None of the repetition effects were associated with measures of socio-emotional competence. Taken together, negative facial expressions led to increased neural activations in early and later processing stages, indicative of enhanced saliency to potential threating stimuli in young children. Processing of repeated facial expression seem to be differential for early and late neural stages: Reduced activation was detected at early neural processing stages particularly for happy faces, indicative of effective processing for an emotion, which is most familiar within this age range. Contrary to our hypothesis, enhanced activity for repeated vs. novel expression independent of a particular emotion were detected at later processing stages, which may be linked to the creation of new memory traces. Early and late repetition effects are discussed in light of developmental and perceptual differences as well as task-specific load.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra Naumann
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Institute of Life Sciences, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- *Correspondence: Sandra Naumann,
| | - Mareike Bayer
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Institute of Life Sciences, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Isabel Dziobek
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Institute of Life Sciences, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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17
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Lassen J, Oranje B, Vestergaard M, Foldager M, Kjaer TW, Arnfred S, Aggernaes B. Reduced mismatch negativity in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder is associated with their impaired adaptive functioning. Autism Res 2022; 15:1469-1481. [PMID: 35545929 PMCID: PMC9546157 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2738] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2021] [Accepted: 04/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Children and adolescents on the autism spectrum display sensory disturbances, rigid and repetitive behavior, social communication problems and a high prevalence of impaired adaptive functioning. Autism is associated with slowed behavioral and neural habituation to repeated sensory input and decreased responses to sensory deviations. Mismatch negativity (MMN) reflects a pre‐attentive difference in the neural response to sensory deviations relative to regularities and studies overall suggest that children and adolescents with autism tend to have smaller MMN. However, it remains unclear whether reduced MMN in autism is coupled to severity of specific autistic symptoms or more generally to lower level of adaptive functioning. To address these questions, the present study used electroencephalography (EEG) to assess whether auditory MMN in 59 children and adolescents with autism aged 7–14 years compared to 59 typically developing children and adolescents were related to specific autistic symptoms or level in adaptive functioning. As hypothesized, the autism group had a lower MMN amplitude than controls. Smaller MMN amplitudes were specifically associated with lower adaptive functioning in the autistic subjects but not in controls while no apparent relationships were observed with autistic‐like social interaction and communication problems, atypical language, rigidity, stereotypy or sensory sensitivity symptoms. Our findings indicate that a blunted response to changes in sensory input may underlie or contribute to the generalized difficulties with adapting to daily life circumstances seen in children and adolescents with autism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Lassen
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Copenhagen University Hospital - Psychiatry Region Zealand, Roskilde, Denmark.,Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Bob Oranje
- Center for Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research (CNSR) & Center for Clinical Intervention and Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research (CINS), Copenhagen University Hospital, Psychiatric Center Glostrup, Glostrup, Denmark
| | - Martin Vestergaard
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Copenhagen University Hospital - Psychiatry Region Zealand, Roskilde, Denmark
| | - Malene Foldager
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Copenhagen University Hospital - Psychiatry Region Zealand, Roskilde, Denmark.,Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Troels W Kjaer
- Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Department of Neurology, Zealand University Hospital, Roskilde, Denmark
| | - Sidse Arnfred
- Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Psychiatric Research Unit, Region Zealand, Denmark, Research Unit for Psychotherapy & Psychopathology, Mental Health Service West, Copenhagen University Hospital - Psychiatry Region Zealand, Slagelse, Denmark
| | - Bodil Aggernaes
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Copenhagen University Hospital - Psychiatry Region Zealand, Roskilde, Denmark.,PP Clinic Copenhagen, Gentofte, Denmark
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18
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Deguire F, López-Arango G, Knoth IS, Côté V, Agbogba K, Lippé S. Developmental course of the repetition effect and change detection responses from infancy through childhood: a longitudinal study. Cereb Cortex 2022; 32:5467-5477. [PMID: 35149872 PMCID: PMC9712715 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2021] [Revised: 01/12/2022] [Accepted: 01/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Neuronal repetition effect (repetition suppression and repetition enhancement) and change detection responses are fundamental brain responses that have implications in learning and cognitive development in infants and children. Studies have shown altered neuronal repetition and change detection responses in various clinical populations. However, the developmental course of these neuronal responses from infancy through childhood is still unknown. Using an electroencephalography oddball task, we investigate the developmental peculiarities of repetition effect and change detection responses in 43 children that we followed longitudinally from 3 months to 4 years of age. Analyses were conducted on theta (3-5 Hz), alpha (5-10 Hz), and beta (10-30 Hz) time-frequency windows. Results indicated that in the theta time-frequency window, in frontocentral and frontal regions of the brain, repetition and change detection responses followed a U-shaped pattern from 3 months to 4 years of age. Moreover, the change detection response was stronger in young infants compared to older children in frontocentral regions, regardless of the time-frequency window. Our findings add to the evidence of top-down modulation of perceptual systems in infants and children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florence Deguire
- Corresponding author: Psychology Department, University of Montreal, Marie Victorin Building, 90 Vincent-D'Indy Avenue, Montreal, QC H2V 2S9, Canada.
| | - Gabriela López-Arango
- Psychology Department, University of Montreal, Marie Victorin Building, 90 Vincent-D’Indy Avenue, Montreal, QC H2V 2S9, Canada,Pôle en neuropsychologie et neuroscience cognitive et computationnelle (CerebrUM), University of Montreal, Marie Victorin Building, 90 Vincent-D’Indy Avenue, Montreal, QC H2V 2S9, Canada,Research Center of the CHU Sainte-Justine, University of Montreal, 3175 Chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine, Montreal, QC H3T 1C5, Canada
| | - Inga Sophia Knoth
- Research Center of the CHU Sainte-Justine, University of Montreal, 3175 Chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine, Montreal, QC H3T 1C5, Canada
| | - Valérie Côté
- Psychology Department, University of Montreal, Marie Victorin Building, 90 Vincent-D’Indy Avenue, Montreal, QC H2V 2S9, Canada,Research Center of the CHU Sainte-Justine, University of Montreal, 3175 Chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine, Montreal, QC H3T 1C5, Canada
| | - Kristian Agbogba
- Research Center of the CHU Sainte-Justine, University of Montreal, 3175 Chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine, Montreal, QC H3T 1C5, Canada,École de technologie supérieure, University of Quebec, 1100 Notre-Dame W, Montreal, QC H3C 1K3, Canada
| | - Sarah Lippé
- Psychology Department, University of Montreal, Marie Victorin Building, 90 Vincent-D’Indy Avenue, Montreal, QC H2V 2S9, Canada,Pôle en neuropsychologie et neuroscience cognitive et computationnelle (CerebrUM), University of Montreal, Marie Victorin Building, 90 Vincent-D’Indy Avenue, Montreal, QC H2V 2S9, Canada,Research Center of the CHU Sainte-Justine, University of Montreal, 3175 Chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine, Montreal, QC H3T 1C5, Canada
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19
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Sicard‐Cras I, Rioualen S, Pellae E, Misery L, Sizun J, Roué J. A review of the characteristics, mechanisms and clinical significance of habituation in foetuses and newborn infants. Acta Paediatr 2022; 111:245-258. [PMID: 34537978 DOI: 10.1111/apa.16115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2021] [Revised: 09/15/2021] [Accepted: 09/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Habituation has been a topic of interest since the early 20th century. We summarise the characteristics of habituation, the proposed habituation mechanisms, the associated cortical responses and the link between habituation and cognitive development. Behavioural and neuroimaging studies have highlighted the early sensory abilities of foetuses and newborn infants, with preterm newborn infants exhibiting decreased habituation and dishabituation capabilities that increase their environmental vulnerability. Habituation provides a foundation for the learning and cognition on which higher functions are constructed. It has been suggested that it is efficient for predicting cognitive developmental outcomes in term and preterm newborn infants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iona Sicard‐Cras
- Department of Neonatal Medicine University Hospital of Brest Brest France
- Laboratory LIEN University of Brest Brest France
| | - Stéphane Rioualen
- Department of Neonatal Medicine University Hospital of Brest Brest France
- Laboratory LIEN University of Brest Brest France
| | - Elisabeth Pellae
- Department of Neonatal Medicine University Hospital of Brest Brest France
- Laboratory LIEN University of Brest Brest France
| | | | - Jacques Sizun
- Department of Neonatal Medicine University Hospital of Brest Brest France
- Laboratory LIEN University of Brest Brest France
| | - Jean‐Michel Roué
- Department of Neonatal Medicine University Hospital of Brest Brest France
- Laboratory LIEN University of Brest Brest France
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20
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Neural Responses to Novel and Existing Words in Children with Autism Spectrum and Developmental Language Disorder. J Cogn 2022; 5:14. [PMID: 36072108 PMCID: PMC9400667 DOI: 10.5334/joc.204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2021] [Accepted: 01/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The formation of new phonological representations is key in establishing items in the mental lexicon. Phonological forms become stable with repetition, time and sleep. Atypicality in the establishment of new word forms is characteristic of children with developmental language disorder (DLD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet neural changes in response to novel word forms over time have not yet been directly compared in these groups. This study measured habituation of event-related-potentials (ERPs) to novel and known words within and between two sessions spaced 24 hours apart in typically developing (TD) children, and their peers with DLD or ASD. We hypothesised that modulation of the auditory N400 amplitude would mark real-time changes in lexical processing with habituation evident within and across sessions in the TD group, while the DLD group would show attenuated habituation within sessions, and the ASD group attenuated habituation between sessions. Twenty-one typically developing children, 19 children with ASD, and 16 children with DLD listened passively to known and novel words on two consecutive days, while ERPs were recorded using dry electrodes. Counter to our hypotheses, no habituation effect emerged within sessions. However, responses did habituate between sessions, with this effect being reduced in the DLD group, indicating less pre-activation of lexical representations in response to words encountered the previous day. No differences in change over time were observed between the TD and ASD groups. These data are in keeping with theories stressing the importance of sleep-related consolidation in word learning.
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21
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LIONirs: flexible Matlab toolbox for fNIRS data analysis. J Neurosci Methods 2022; 370:109487. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2022.109487] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2020] [Revised: 01/19/2022] [Accepted: 01/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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22
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Haartsen R, Mason L, Braithwaite EK, Del Bianco T, Johnson MH, Jones EJH. Reliability of an automated gaze-controlled paradigm for capturing neural responses during visual and face processing in toddlerhood. Dev Psychobiol 2021; 63:e22157. [PMID: 34674242 PMCID: PMC9293026 DOI: 10.1002/dev.22157] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2021] [Revised: 05/28/2021] [Accepted: 06/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Electroencephalography (EEG) has substantial potential value for examining individual differences during early development. Current challenges in developmental EEG research include high dropout rates and low trial numbers, which may in part be due to passive stimulus presentation. Comparability is challenged by idiosyncratic processing pipelines. We present a novel toolbox (“Braintools”) that uses gaze‐contingent stimulus presentation and an automated processing pipeline suitable for measuring visual processing through low‐density EEG recordings in the field. We tested the feasibility of this toolbox in 61 2.5‐ to 4‐year olds, and computed test–retest reliability (1‐ to 2‐week interval) of event‐related potentials (ERP) associated with visual (P1) and face processing (N290, P400). Feasibility was good, with 52 toddlers providing some EEG data at the first session. Reliability values for ERP features were moderate when derived from 20 trials; this would allow inclusion of 79% of the 61 toddlers for the P1 and 82% for the N290 and P400. P1 amplitude/latency were more reliable across sessions than for the N290 and P400. Amplitudes were generally more reliable than latencies. Automated and standardized solutions to collection and analysis of event‐related EEG data would allow efficient application in large‐scale global health studies, opening significant potential for examining individual differences in development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rianne Haartsen
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK
| | - Luke Mason
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK
| | - Eleanor K Braithwaite
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK
| | - Teresa Del Bianco
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK
| | - Mark H Johnson
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK.,Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Emily J H Jones
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK
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23
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López-Arango G, Deguire F, Côté V, Barlaam F, Agbogba K, Knoth IS, Lippé S. Infant repetition effects and change detection: Are they related to adaptive skills? Eur J Neurosci 2021; 54:7193-7213. [PMID: 34585451 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15475] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2021] [Revised: 09/16/2021] [Accepted: 09/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Repetition effects and change detection response have been proposed as neuro-electrophysiological correlates of fundamental learning processes. As such, they could be a good predictor of brain maturation and cognitive development. We recorded high density EEG in 71 healthy infants (32 females) aged between 3 and 9 months, while they listened to vowel sequences (standard /a/a/a/i/ [80%] and deviant /a/a/a/a/ [20%]). Adaptive skills, a surrogate of cognitive development, were measured via the parent form of the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System Second Edition (ABAS-II). Cortical auditory-evoked potentials (CAEPs) analyses, time-frequency analyses and a statistical approach using linear mixed models (LMMs) and linear regression models were performed. Age and adaptive skills were tested as predictors. Age modulation of repetition effects and change detection response was observed in theta (3-5 Hz), alpha (5-10 Hz) and high gamma (80-90 Hz) oscillations and in all CAEPs. Moreover, adaptive skills modulation of repetition effects was evidenced in theta (3-5 Hz), high gamma oscillations (80-90 Hz), N250/P350 peak-to-peak amplitude and P350 latency. Finally, adaptive skills modulation of change detection response was observed in the N250/P350 peak-to-peak amplitude. Our results confirm that repetition effects and change detection response evolve with age. Moreover, our results suggest that repetition effects and change detection response vary according to adaptive skills displayed by infants during the first year of life, demonstrating their predictive value for neurodevelopment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriela López-Arango
- Neurosciences Department, Montreal University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.,Research Center, Sainte-Justine Hospital, Montreal University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Florence Deguire
- Psychology Department, Montreal University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.,Research Center, Sainte-Justine Hospital, Montreal University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Valérie Côté
- Psychology Department, Montreal University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.,Research Center, Sainte-Justine Hospital, Montreal University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Fanny Barlaam
- Research Center, Sainte-Justine Hospital, Montreal University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Kristian Agbogba
- Research Center, Sainte-Justine Hospital, Montreal University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Inga S Knoth
- Research Center, Sainte-Justine Hospital, Montreal University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Sarah Lippé
- Psychology Department, Montreal University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.,Research Center, Sainte-Justine Hospital, Montreal University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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24
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Hahn LE, Benders T, Fikkert P, Snijders TM. Infants' Implicit Rhyme Perception in Child Songs and Its Relationship With Vocabulary. Front Psychol 2021; 12:680882. [PMID: 34552527 PMCID: PMC8450347 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.680882] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2021] [Accepted: 08/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Rhyme perception is an important predictor for future literacy. Assessing rhyme abilities, however, commonly requires children to make explicit rhyme judgements on single words. Here we explored whether infants already implicitly process rhymes in natural rhyming contexts (child songs) and whether this response correlates with later vocabulary size. In a passive listening ERP study, 10.5 month-old Dutch infants were exposed to rhyming and non-rhyming child songs. Two types of rhyme effects were analysed: (1) ERPs elicited by the first rhyme occurring in each song (rhyme sensitivity) and (2) ERPs elicited by rhymes repeating after the first rhyme in each song (rhyme repetition). Only for the latter a tentative negativity for rhymes from 0 to 200 ms after the onset of the rhyme word was found. This rhyme repetition effect correlated with productive vocabulary at 18 months-old, but not with any other vocabulary measure (perception at 10.5 or 18 months-old). While awaiting future replication, the study indicates precursors of phonological awareness already during infancy and with ecologically valid linguistic stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura E Hahn
- Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, Netherlands.,International Max Planck Research School for the Language Sciences, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Titia Benders
- Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Paula Fikkert
- Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Tineke M Snijders
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, Netherlands.,Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, Netherlands
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25
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Nussenbaum K, Hartley CA. Developmental change in prefrontal cortex recruitment supports the emergence of value-guided memory. eLife 2021; 10:e69796. [PMID: 34542408 PMCID: PMC8452307 DOI: 10.7554/elife.69796] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2021] [Accepted: 08/23/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Prioritizing memory for valuable information can promote adaptive behavior across the lifespan, but it is unclear how the neurocognitive mechanisms that enable the selective acquisition of useful knowledge develop. Here, using a novel task coupled with functional magnetic resonance imaging, we examined how children, adolescents, and adults (N = 90) learn from experience what information is likely to be rewarding, and modulate encoding and retrieval processes accordingly. We found that the ability to use learned value signals to selectively enhance memory for useful information strengthened throughout childhood and into adolescence. Encoding and retrieval of high- vs. low-value information was associated with increased activation in striatal and prefrontal regions implicated in value processing and cognitive control. Age-related increases in value-based lateral prefrontal cortex modulation mediated the relation between age and memory selectivity. Our findings demonstrate that developmental increases in the strategic engagement of the prefrontal cortex support the emergence of adaptive memory.
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26
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Dilcher R, Beste C, Takacs A, Bluschke A, Tóth-Fáber E, Kleimaker M, Münchau A, Li SC. Perception-action integration in young age-A cross-sectional EEG study. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2021; 50:100977. [PMID: 34147987 PMCID: PMC8225655 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2021.100977] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2021] [Revised: 04/26/2021] [Accepted: 06/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans differ in their capacity for integrating perceived events and related actions. The "Theory of event coding" (TEC) conceptualizes how stimuli and actions are cognitively bound into a common functional representation (or "code"), known as the "event file". To date, however, the neural processes underlying the development of event file coding mechanisms across age are largely unclear. We investigated age-related neural changes of event file coding from late childhood to early adulthood, using EEG signal decompositions methods. We included a group of healthy participants (n = 91) between 10 and 30 years, performing an event file paradigm. Results of this study revealed age-related effects on event file coding processes both at the behavioural and the neurophysiological level. Performance accuracy data showed that event file unbinding und rebinding processes become more efficient from late childhood to early adulthood. These behavioural effects are reflected by age-related effects in two neurophysiological subprocesses associated with the superior parietal cortex (BA7) as revealed in the analyses using EEG signal decomposition. The first process entails mapping and association processes between stimulus and response; whereas, the second comprises inhibitory control subprocesses subserving the selection of the relevant motor programme amongst competing response options.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roxane Dilcher
- Chair of Lifespan Developmental Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, TU Dresden, Germany
| | - Christian Beste
- Cognitive Neurophysiology, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, TU Dresden, Germany.
| | - Adam Takacs
- Cognitive Neurophysiology, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, TU Dresden, Germany
| | - Annet Bluschke
- Cognitive Neurophysiology, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, TU Dresden, Germany
| | - Eszter Tóth-Fáber
- Doctoral School of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary; Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
| | | | | | - Shu-Chen Li
- Chair of Lifespan Developmental Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, TU Dresden, Germany; Centre for Tactile Internet With Human-in-the-Loop, TU Dresden, Germany.
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27
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Zhang M, Riecke L, Bonte M. Neurophysiological tracking of speech-structure learning in typical and dyslexic readers. Neuropsychologia 2021; 158:107889. [PMID: 33991561 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.107889] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2020] [Revised: 05/03/2021] [Accepted: 05/10/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Statistical learning, or the ability to extract statistical regularities from the sensory environment, plays a critical role in language acquisition and reading development. Here we employed electroencephalography (EEG) with frequency-tagging measures to track the temporal evolution of speech-structure learning in individuals with reading difficulties due to developmental dyslexia and in typical readers. We measured EEG while participants listened to (a) a structured stream of repeated tri-syllabic pseudowords, (b) a random stream of the same isochronous syllables, and (c) a series of tri-syllabic real Dutch words. Participants' behavioral learning outcome (pseudoword recognition) was measured after training. We found that syllable-rate tracking was comparable between the two groups and stable across both the random and structured streams of syllables. More importantly, we observed a gradual emergence of the tracking of tri-syllabic pseudoword structures in both groups. Compared to the typical readers, however, in the dyslexic readers this implicit speech structure learning seemed to build up at a slower pace. A brain-behavioral correlation analysis showed that slower learners (i.e., participants who were slower in establishing the neural tracking of pseudowords) were less skilled in phonological awareness. Moreover, those who showed stronger neural tracking of real words tended to be less fluent in the visual-verbal conversion of linguistic symbols. Taken together, our study provides an online neurophysiological approach to track the progression of implicit learning processes and gives insights into the learning difficulties associated with dyslexia from a dynamic perspective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manli Zhang
- Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
| | - Lars Riecke
- Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands
| | - Milene Bonte
- Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands
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28
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Young infants process prediction errors at the theta rhythm. Neuroimage 2021; 236:118074. [PMID: 33878378 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2020] [Revised: 04/07/2021] [Accepted: 04/11/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Examining how young infants respond to unexpected events is key to our understanding of their emerging concepts about the world around them. From a predictive processing perspective, it is intriguing to investigate how the infant brain responds to unexpected events (i.e., prediction errors), because they require infants to refine their predictions about the environment. Here, to better understand prediction error processes in the infant brain, we presented 9-month-olds (N = 36) a variety of physical and social events with unexpected versus expected outcomes, while recording their electroencephalogram (EEG). We found a pronounced response in the ongoing 4-5 Hz theta rhythm for the processing of unexpected (in contrast to expected) events, for a prolonged time window (2 s) and across all scalp-recorded electrodes. The condition difference in the theta rhythm was not related to the condition difference in infants' event-related activity to unexpected (versus expected) events in the negative central (Nc) component (0.4-0.6 s), a component, which is commonly analyzed in infant violation of expectation studies using EEG. These findings constitute critical evidence that the theta rhythm is involved in the processing of prediction errors from very early in human brain development. We discuss how the theta rhythm may support infants' refinement of basic concepts about the physical and social environment.
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29
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Sommer VR, Mount L, Weigelt S, Werkle-Bergner M, Sander MC. Memory specificity is linked to repetition effects in event-related potentials across the lifespan. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2021; 48:100926. [PMID: 33556880 PMCID: PMC7868631 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2021.100926] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2020] [Revised: 01/04/2021] [Accepted: 01/22/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
The specificity with which past experiences can be remembered varies across the lifespan, possibly due to differences in how precisely information is encoded. Memory formation can be investigated through repetition effects, the common finding that neural activity is altered when stimuli are repeated. However, whether differences in this indirect measure of memory formation relate to lifespan differences in memory specificity has not yet been established. In the present study, we examined repetition effects in event-related potentials and their relation to recognition. During incidental encoding, children (aged 7-9 years), young adults (18-30 years), and older adults (65-76 years) viewed repeated object images from different categories. During subsequent recognition, we distinguished memory for the specific items versus the general categories. We identified repetition suppression in all age groups, and repetition enhancement for adults. Furthermore, individual item recognition performance comprising lure discrimination was positively associated with the magnitude of the neural repetition effects, which did not differ between groups, indicating common neural mechanisms of memory formation. Our findings demonstrate that neural repetition effects reflect the formation of highly specific memory representations and highlight their significance as a neural indicator of individual differences in episodic memory encoding across the lifespan.
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Affiliation(s)
- Verena R Sommer
- Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
| | - Luzie Mount
- Department for Vision, Visual Impairments & Blindness, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, TU Dortmund University, Germany
| | - Sarah Weigelt
- Department for Vision, Visual Impairments & Blindness, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, TU Dortmund University, Germany
| | - Markus Werkle-Bergner
- Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
| | - Myriam C Sander
- Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.
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30
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Piccardi ES, Begum Ali J, Jones EJH, Mason L, Charman T, Johnson MH, Gliga T. Behavioural and neural markers of tactile sensory processing in infants at elevated likelihood of autism spectrum disorder and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. J Neurodev Disord 2021; 13:1. [PMID: 33390154 PMCID: PMC7780639 DOI: 10.1186/s11689-020-09334-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2020] [Accepted: 11/04/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Backgrounds Atypicalities in tactile processing are reported in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) but it remains unknown if they precede and associate with the traits of these disorders emerging in childhood. We investigated behavioural and neural markers of tactile sensory processing in infants at elevated likelihood of ASD and/or ADHD compared to infants at typical likelihood of the disorders. Further, we assessed the specificity of associations between infant markers and later ASD or ADHD traits. Methods Ninety-one 10-month-old infants participated in the study (n = 44 infants at elevated likelihood of ASD; n = 20 infants at elevated likelihood of ADHD; n = 9 infants at elevated likelihood of ASD and ADHD; n = 18 infants at typical likelihood of the disorders). Behavioural and EEG responses to pairs of tactile stimuli were experimentally recorded and concurrent parental reports of tactile responsiveness were collected. ASD and ADHD traits were measured at 24 months through standardized assessment (ADOS-2) and parental report (ECBQ), respectively. Results There was no effect of infants’ likelihood status on behavioural markers of tactile sensory processing. Conversely, increased ASD likelihood associated with reduced neural repetition suppression to tactile input. Reduced neural repetition suppression at 10 months significantly predicted ASD (but not ADHD) traits at 24 months across the entire sample. Elevated tactile sensory seeking at 10 months moderated the relationship between early reduced neural repetition suppression and later ASD traits. Conclusions Reduced tactile neural repetition suppression is an early marker of later ASD traits in infants at elevated likelihood of ASD or ADHD, suggesting that a common pathway to later ASD traits exists despite different familial backgrounds. Elevated tactile sensory seeking may act as a protective factor, mitigating the relationship between early tactile neural repetition suppression and later ASD traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Serena Piccardi
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK.
| | - Jannath Begum Ali
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK
| | - Emily J H Jones
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK
| | - Luke Mason
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK
| | - Tony Charman
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, Psychology Department, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Mark H Johnson
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK.,Department of Psychology, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK
| | - Teodora Gliga
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK.,Department of Psychology, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
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31
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Begus K, Curioni A, Knoblich G, Gergely G. Infants understand collaboration: Neural evidence for 9-month-olds' attribution of shared goals to coordinated joint actions. Soc Neurosci 2020; 15:655-667. [PMID: 33210973 DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2020.1847730] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Interpreting others' actions as goal-directed, even when the actions are unfamiliar, is indispensable for social learning, and can be particularly important for infants, whose own action repertoire is limited. Indeed, young infants have been shown to attribute goals to unfamiliar actions as early as 3 months of age, but this ability appears restricted to actions performed by individuals. In contrast, attributing shared goals to actions performed by multiple individuals seems to emerge only in the second year of life. Considering the restrictions that this would impose on infants' understanding and learning from interactions in their environment, we reexamine this ability by introducing 9-month-old infants to simple joint actions, in which two agents coordinate their actions toward the same goal. To establish whether infants formed an expectation about future actions of these agents, infants' cortical activity was measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). The hemodynamic response, recorded in (p)STS, indicated that infants attributed goals to simultaneous and coordinated joint actions of two individuals. Thus, even prior to actively engaging in collaborative activities themselves, infants can attribute shared goals to observed joint actions, enabling infants to learn from, and about, the complementary roles of social interactions, a central characteristic of human culture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katarina Begus
- Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University , Budapest, Hungary
| | - Arianna Curioni
- Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University , Budapest, Hungary
| | - Guenther Knoblich
- Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University , Budapest, Hungary
| | - Gyorgy Gergely
- Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University , Budapest, Hungary
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32
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Nordt M, Gomez J, Natu V, Jeska B, Barnett M, Grill-Spector K. Learning to Read Increases the Informativeness of Distributed Ventral Temporal Responses. Cereb Cortex 2020; 29:3124-3139. [PMID: 30169753 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhy178] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2018] [Revised: 05/14/2018] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Becoming a proficient reader requires substantial learning over many years. However, it is unknown how learning to read affects development of distributed visual representations across human ventral temporal cortex (VTC). Using fMRI and a data-driven, computational approach, we quantified the development of distributed VTC responses to characters (pseudowords and numbers) versus other domains in children, preteens, and adults. Results reveal anatomical- and hemisphere-specific development. With development, distributed responses to words and characters became more distinctive and informative in lateral but not medial VTC, and in the left but not right hemisphere. While the development of voxels with both positive and negative preference to words affected distributed information, only development of voxels with positive preference to words (i.e., word-selective) was correlated with reading ability. These data show that developmental increases in informativeness of distributed left lateral VTC responses are related to proficient reading and have important implications for both developmental theories and for elucidating neural mechanisms of reading disabilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marisa Nordt
- Department of Developmental Neuropsychology, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Jesse Gomez
- Neurosciences Program, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Vaidehi Natu
- Psychology Department, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Brianna Jeska
- Psychology Department, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Michael Barnett
- Psychology Department, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Kalanit Grill-Spector
- Neurosciences Program, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.,Psychology Department, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.,Stanford Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
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33
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Avery SN, McHugo M, Armstrong K, Blackford JU, Vandekar S, Woodward ND, Heckers S. Habituation during encoding: A new approach to the evaluation of memory deficits in schizophrenia. Schizophr Res 2020; 223:179-185. [PMID: 32736836 PMCID: PMC7704891 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2020.07.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2019] [Revised: 04/30/2020] [Accepted: 07/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Memory is significantly impaired in schizophrenia. However, memory measures are often complex and confounded by additional impairments such as motivation and task comprehension, which can affect behavioral performance and obscure neural function during memory tasks. Neural signatures of memory encoding that are robust to potential confounds may shed additional light on neural deficits contributing to memory impairment in schizophrenia. METHODS Here, we investigate a potential neural signature of memory-habituation-and its relationship with healthy and impaired memory function. To limit potential confounds, we used a passive depth of encoding memory task designed to elicit neural responses associated with memory encoding while limiting other cognitive demands. To determine whether habituation during encoding was predictive of intact memory processing, we first compared neural habituation over repeated encoding exposures with subsequent explicit memory in healthy individuals. We then tested whether a similar relationship existed in patients with schizophrenia. RESULTS Explicit memory performance was impaired in patients with schizophrenia relative to healthy control subjects. In healthy participants, more habituation over repeated exposures during encoding was associated with greater repetition-related increases in accuracy during testing. However, in patients with schizophrenia, better performance was associated with less habituation, or a more sustained neural response during encoding. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that sustained neural activity is required for normal repetition-related improvements in memory performance in schizophrenia, in line with a neural inefficiency model. Habituation may serve as a valuable index of neural processes that underlie behavioral memory performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suzanne N. Avery
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
| | - Maureen McHugo
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
| | - Kristan Armstrong
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
| | - Jennifer U. Blackford
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
| | - Simon Vandekar
- Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
| | - Neil D. Woodward
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
| | - Stephan Heckers
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
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34
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Piccardi ES, Johnson MH, Gliga T. Explaining individual differences in infant visual sensory seeking. INFANCY 2020; 25:677-698. [PMID: 32748567 PMCID: PMC7496506 DOI: 10.1111/infa.12356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2019] [Revised: 12/05/2019] [Accepted: 06/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Individual differences in infants’ engagement with their environment manifest early in development and are noticed by parents. Three views have been advanced to explain differences in seeking novel stimulation. The optimal stimulation hypothesis suggests that individuals seek further stimulation when they are under‐responsive to current sensory input. The processing speed hypothesis proposes that those capable of processing information faster are driven to seek stimulation more frequently. The information prioritization hypothesis suggests the differences in stimulation seeking index variation in the prioritization of incoming relative to ongoing information processing. Ten‐month‐old infants saw 10 repetitions of a video clip and changes in frontal theta oscillatory amplitude were measured as an index of information processing speed. Stimulus‐locked P1 peak amplitude in response to checkerboards briefly overlaid on the video at random points during its presentation indexed processing of incoming stimulation. Parental report of higher visual seeking did not relate to reduced P1 peak amplitude or to a stronger decrease in frontal theta amplitude with repetition, thus not supporting either the optimal stimulation or the processing speed hypotheses. Higher visual seeking occurred in those infants whose P1 peak amplitude was greater than expected based on their theta amplitude. These findings indicate that visual sensory seeking in infancy is explained by a bias toward novel stimulation, thus supporting the information prioritization hypothesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Serena Piccardi
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck University of London, London, UK
| | - Mark H Johnson
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck University of London, London, UK.,Department of Psychology, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK
| | - Teodora Gliga
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck University of London, London, UK.,Department of Psychology, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
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35
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Thébault-Dagher F, Deguire F, Knoth IS, Lafontaine MP, Barlaam F, Côté V, Agbogba K, Lippé S. Prolonged and unprolonged complex febrile seizures differently affect frontal theta brain activity. Epilepsy Res 2020; 159:106217. [DOI: 10.1016/j.eplepsyres.2019.106217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2019] [Revised: 09/27/2019] [Accepted: 10/13/2019] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
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36
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Font-Alaminos M, Cornella M, Costa-Faidella J, Hervás A, Leung S, Rueda I, Escera C. Increased subcortical neural responses to repeating auditory stimulation in children with autism spectrum disorder. Biol Psychol 2020; 149:107807. [DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2019.107807] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2019] [Revised: 10/29/2019] [Accepted: 10/30/2019] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
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37
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Lloyd‐Fox S, Blasi A, McCann S, Rozhko M, Katus L, Mason L, Austin T, Moore SE, Elwell CE. Habituation and novelty detection fNIRS brain responses in 5- and 8-month-old infants: The Gambia and UK. Dev Sci 2019; 22:e12817. [PMID: 30771264 PMCID: PMC6767511 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12817] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2018] [Revised: 12/12/2018] [Accepted: 01/10/2019] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
The first 1,000 days of life are a critical window of vulnerability to exposure to socioeconomic and health challenges (i.e. poverty/undernutrition). The Brain Imaging for Global Health (BRIGHT) project has been established to deliver longitudinal measures of brain development from 0 to 24 months in UK and Gambian infants and to assess the impact of early adversity. Here results from the Habituation-Novelty Detection (HaND) functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) task at 5 and 8 months are presented (N = 62 UK; N = 115 Gambia). In the UK cohort distinct patterns of habituation and recovery of response to novelty are seen, becoming more robust from 5 to 8 months of age. In The Gambia, an attenuated habituation response is evident: a larger number of trials are required before the response sufficiently suppresses relative to the response during the first presented trials. Furthermore, recovery of response to novelty is not evident at 5 or 8 months of age. As this longitudinal study continues in The Gambia, the parallel collection of socioeconomic, caregiving, health and nutrition data will allow us to stratify how individual trajectories of habituation and recovery of response to novelty associate with different risk factors and adaptive mechanisms in greater depth. Given the increasing interest in the use of neuroimaging methods within global neurocognitive developmental studies, this study provides a novel cross-culturally appropriate paradigm for the study of brain responses associated with attention and learning mechanisms across early development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Lloyd‐Fox
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive DevelopmentBirkbeck University of LondonLondonUK
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK
| | - Anna Blasi
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical EngineeringUniversity College LondonLondonUK
| | - Samantha McCann
- Medical Research CouncilThe Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineLondonUK
| | - Maria Rozhko
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical EngineeringUniversity College LondonLondonUK
| | - Laura Katus
- Great Ormond Street Institute of Child HealthUniversity College LondonLondonUK
| | - Luke Mason
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive DevelopmentBirkbeck University of LondonLondonUK
| | - Topun Austin
- Department of NeonatologyThe Rosie Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustCambridgeUK
| | - Sophie E. Moore
- Department of Women and Children’s HealthKings College LondonLondonUK
| | - Clare E. Elwell
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical EngineeringUniversity College LondonLondonUK
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Reynolds GD, Richards JE. Infant Visual Attention and Stimulus Repetition Effects on Object Recognition. Child Dev 2019; 90:1027-1042. [PMID: 29053180 PMCID: PMC5910295 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.12982] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
This study examined behavioral, heart rate (HR), and event-related potential (ERP) correlates of attention and recognition memory for 4.5-, 6-, and 7.5-month-old infants (N = 45) during stimulus encoding. Attention was utilized as an independent variable using HR measures. The Nc ERP component associated with attention and the late slow wave (LSW) associated with recognition memory were analyzed. The 7.5-month-olds demonstrated a significant reduction in Nc amplitude with stimulus repetition. This reduction in Nc was not found for younger infants. Additionally, infants only demonstrated differential LSW amplitude based on stimulus type on attentive trials as defined by HR changes. These findings indicate that from 4.5 to 7.5 months, infants' attentional engagement is influenced by an increasingly broader range of stimulus characteristics.
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The relationship between acute stress and EEG repetition suppression in infants. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2019; 104:203-209. [PMID: 30878913 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.03.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2018] [Revised: 03/01/2019] [Accepted: 03/05/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Over activation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in stress situations is known to influence learning and memory. In adults, an inverted-U shape relationship between acute stress, and learning and memory has been demonstrated. Whether this model fits learning performances in infants is unknown. In this study, we used EEG repetition suppression as physiological measure of learning and salivary cortisol in response to a stressor to investigate the relationship between acute stress and learning in infants. We hypothesized that EEG repetition suppression would be modulated by acute stress following an inverted-U shape relationship. Saliva samples were collected during an EEG experiment before, during and after EEG net installation in 37 healthy infants (18 males) aged between 6 and 26 months. The effect of variation in stress hormones on repetition suppression were modeled using a linear mixed model, with cortisol, age and sex as predictors. Results indicated that in healthy infants, elevations in stress hormones within the normal range are associated with a higher repetition suppression response and an increased response to the first presentation of the stimulus. The later increase could be related to vigilance. Considering that early childhood is a critical period of development, future studies should keep investigating the influence of stress on learning processes in infants.
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40
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Kolesnik A, Begum Ali J, Gliga T, Guiraud J, Charman T, Johnson MH, Jones EJH. Increased cortical reactivity to repeated tones at 8 months in infants with later ASD. Transl Psychiatry 2019; 9:46. [PMID: 30700699 PMCID: PMC6353960 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-019-0393-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2018] [Revised: 11/12/2018] [Accepted: 01/01/2019] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Dysregulation of cortical excitation/inhibition (E/I) has been proposed as a neuropathological mechanism underlying core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Determining whether dysregulated E/I could contribute to the emergence of behavioural symptoms of ASD requires evidence from human infants prior to diagnosis. In this prospective longitudinal study, we examine differences in neural responses to auditory repetition in infants later diagnosed with ASD. Eight-month-old infants with (high-risk: n = 116) and without (low-risk: n = 27) an older sibling with ASD were tested in a non-linguistic auditory oddball paradigm. Relative to high-risk infants with typical development (n = 44), infants with later ASD (n = 14) showed reduced repetition suppression of 40-60 Hz evoked gamma and significantly greater 10-20 Hz inter-trial coherence (ITC) for repeated tones. Reduced repetition suppression of cortical gamma and increased phase-locking to repeated tones are consistent with cortical hyper-reactivity, which could in turn reflect disturbed E/I balance. Across the whole high-risk sample, a combined index of cortical reactivity (cortical gamma amplitude and ITC) was dimensionally associated with reduced growth in language skills between 8 months and 3 years, as well as elevated levels of parent-rated social communication symptoms at 3 years. Our data show that cortical 'hyper-reactivity' may precede the onset of behavioural traits of ASD in development, potentially affecting experience-dependent specialisation of the developing brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Kolesnik
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK.
| | - Jannath Begum Ali
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK
| | - Teodora Gliga
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK
| | - Jeanne Guiraud
- Core CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service), Brookside Family Consultation Clinic, Cambridge, UK
| | - Tony Charman
- Psychology Department, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Mark H Johnson
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Emily J H Jones
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK.
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41
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Age-related increase of image-invariance in the fusiform face area. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2018; 31:46-57. [PMID: 29738921 PMCID: PMC6969195 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2018.04.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2017] [Revised: 04/12/2018] [Accepted: 04/14/2018] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Image invariance in the FFA increases from age seven to adulthood. These results are confirmed by two independent ROI analyses. Adaptation in the FFA relates to the ability to recognize a face in multiple images.
Face recognition undergoes prolonged development from childhood to adulthood, thereby raising the question which neural underpinnings are driving this development. Here, we address the development of the neural foundation of the ability to recognize a face across naturally varying images. Fourteen children (ages, 7–10) and 14 adults (ages, 20–23) watched images of either the same or different faces in a functional magnetic resonance imaging adaptation paradigm. The same face was either presented in exact image repetitions or in varying images. Additionally, a subset of participants completed a behavioral task, in which they decided if the face in consecutively presented images belonged to the same person. Results revealed age-related increases in neural sensitivity to face identity in the fusiform face area. Importantly, ventral temporal face-selective regions exhibited more image-invariance – as indicated by stronger adaptation for different images of the same person – in adults compared to children. Crucially, the amount of adaptation to face identity across varying images was correlated with the ability to recognize individual faces in different images. These results suggest that the increase of image-invariance in face-selective regions might be related to the development of face recognition skills.
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42
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Dumont V, Bulla J, Bessot N, Gonidec J, Zabalia M, Guillois B, Roche-Labarbe N. The manual orienting response habituation to repeated tactile stimuli in preterm neonates: Discrimination of stimulus locations and interstimulus intervals. Dev Psychobiol 2018; 59:590-602. [PMID: 28605017 DOI: 10.1002/dev.21526] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2016] [Revised: 03/21/2017] [Accepted: 04/18/2017] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Preterm infants frequently develop atypical sensory profiles, the tactile modality being particularly affected. However, there is a lack of recent investigation of neonatal tactile perception in a passive context, especially in preterms who are particularly exposed to this tactile stimuli. Our aims were to provide evidence of orienting responses (behavioral modifications directing subject's attention towards stimuli) and habituation to passive tactile stimuli in preterm neonates, to explore their ability to perceive spatial and temporal aspects of the stimulus, and to evaluate the effect of clinical factors on these abilities. We included 61 preterm neonates, born between 32 and 34 weeks of gestational age. At 35 weeks of corrected gestational age, we measured orienting responses (forearm, hand, and fingers movements) during vibrotactile stimulation of their hand and forearm; during a habituation and dishabituation paradigm, the dishabituation being either a location change or a pause in the stimulation sequence. Preterm newborns displayed a manual orienting response to vibrotactile stimuli which significantly decreased when the stimulus was repeated, regardless of the stimulated location on the limb. Habituation was delayed in subjects born at a younger gestational age, smaller birth weight, and having experienced more painful care procedures. Preterm neonates perceived changes in stimulus location and interstimulus time interval. Our findings provide insights on several aspects of the perception of repeated tactile stimuli by preterm neonates, and the first evidence of the early development of temporal processing abilities in the tactile modality. Future work will investigate the links between this ability and neurodevelopmental disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jan Bulla
- Department of Mathematics, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - Nicolas Bessot
- Normandie University, UNICAEN, INSERM, COMETE, Caen, France
| | | | - Marc Zabalia
- Normandie University, UNICAEN, EA7452, Caen, France
| | - Bernard Guillois
- Normandie University, UNICAEN, EA7452, Caen, France.,Service de Néonatologie, CHU de Caen, Caen, France
| | - Nadège Roche-Labarbe
- Normandie University, UNICAEN, EA7452, Caen, France.,Normandie University, UNICAEN, INSERM, COMETE, Caen, France
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43
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Gerhard TM, Schwarzer G. Impact of rotation angle on crawling and non-crawling 9-month-old infants' mental rotation ability. J Exp Child Psychol 2018; 170:45-56. [PMID: 29407187 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2018.01.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2017] [Revised: 12/07/2017] [Accepted: 01/03/2018] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
The current study investigated whether 9-month-old infants' mental rotation performance was influenced by the magnitude of the angle of object rotation and their crawling ability. A total of 76 infants were tested; of these infants, 39 had been crawling for an average of 9.0 weeks. Infants were habituated to a video of a simplified Shepard-Metzler object (Shepard & Metzler, 1971), always rotating forward through a 180° angle around the horizontal axis of the object. After habituation, in two different test conditions, infants were presented with test videos of the same object rotating farther forward through a previously unseen 90° angle and with a test video of its mirror image. The two test conditions differed in the magnitude of the gap between the end of the habituation rotations and the beginning of the test rotations. The gaps were 0° and 54°. The results revealed that the mental rotation performance was influenced by the magnitude of the gaps only for the crawling infants. Their response showed significant transition from a preference for the mirror object rotations toward a preference for the familiar habituation object rotations. Thus, the results provide first evidence that it is easier for 9-month-old crawling infants to mentally rotate an object along a small angle compared with a large one.
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Affiliation(s)
- Theresa M Gerhard
- Department of Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Sports Science, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, 35394 Giessen, Germany.
| | - Gudrun Schwarzer
- Department of Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Sports Science, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, 35394 Giessen, Germany
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44
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Issard C, Gervain J. Variability of the hemodynamic response in infants: Influence of experimental design and stimulus complexity. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2018; 33:182-193. [PMID: 29397345 PMCID: PMC6969282 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2018.01.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2017] [Revised: 01/26/2018] [Accepted: 01/26/2018] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Measuring brain activity in developmental populations remains a major challenge despite great technological advances. Among the numerous available methods, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), an imaging modality that probes the hemodynamic response, is a powerful tool for recording brain activity in a great variety of situations and populations. Neurocognitive studies with infants have often reported inverted hemodynamic responses, i.e. a decrease instead of an increase in regional blood oxygenation, but the exact physiological explanation and cognitive interpretation of this response remain unclear. Here, we first provide an overview of the basic principles of NIRS and its use in cognitive developmental neuroscience. We then review the infant fNIRS literature to show that the hemodynamic response is modulated by experimental design and stimulus complexity, sometimes leading to hemodynamic responses with non-canonical shapes. We also argue that this effect is further modulated by the age of participants, the cortical regions involved, and the developmental stage of the tested cognitive process. We argue that this variability needs to be taken into account when designing and interpreting developmental studies measuring the hemodynamic response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cécile Issard
- Laboratoire Psychologie de la Perception, Université Paris Descartes, Centre Universitaire des Saints-Pères, 45 rue des Saints Pères, 75006 Paris, France.
| | - Judit Gervain
- Laboratoire Psychologie de la Perception, Université Paris Descartes, Centre Universitaire des Saints-Pères, 45 rue des Saints Pères, 75006 Paris, France; Laboratoire Psychologie de la Perception, CNRS UMR 8242, Centre Universitaire des Saints-Pères, 45 rue des Saints Pères, 75006 Paris, France.
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45
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Tam FI, King JA, Geisler D, Korb FM, Sareng J, Ritschel F, Steding J, Albertowski KU, Roessner V, Ehrlich S. Altered behavioral and amygdala habituation in high-functioning adults with autism spectrum disorder: an fMRI study. Sci Rep 2017; 7:13611. [PMID: 29051601 PMCID: PMC5648793 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-14097-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2017] [Accepted: 09/25/2017] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Habituation to repeatedly presented stimuli is an important adaptive property of the nervous system. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been associated with reduced neural habituation, for example in the amygdala, which may be related to social impairments. The main focus of this study was to investigate habituation effects on the level of behavioral responses as well as amygdala responses in adults with ASD during a working memory task flanked by task-irrelevant face stimuli. Twenty-two patients with high-functioning autism and 24 healthy controls (HC) were included in this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study. We employed an established habituation index to investigate habituation effects. Suggestive of altered habituation, the habituation index showed a decrement of reaction time over the course of the experiment in the HC but not in the ASD group. Similarly, an expected pattern of habituation was evident in amygdala activation in HC but absent in ASD participants. These results provide evidence that habituation may be altered not only on a neural, but also on a behavioral level in ASD. While more research is needed to develop a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms, the current findings support the possibility that deficient habituation may be a biomarker of ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Friederike I Tam
- Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, 01307, Dresden, Germany.,Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital C. G. Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, 01307, Dresden, Germany
| | - Joseph A King
- Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, 01307, Dresden, Germany
| | - Daniel Geisler
- Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, 01307, Dresden, Germany
| | - Franziska M Korb
- Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Zellescher Weg 17, 01069, Dresden, Germany
| | - Juliane Sareng
- Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, 01307, Dresden, Germany.,Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital C. G. Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, 01307, Dresden, Germany
| | - Franziska Ritschel
- Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, 01307, Dresden, Germany.,Translational Developmental Neuroscience Section, Eating Disorder Research and Treatment Center at the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, 01307, Dresden, Germany
| | - Julius Steding
- Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, 01307, Dresden, Germany
| | - Katja U Albertowski
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital C. G. Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, 01307, Dresden, Germany
| | - Veit Roessner
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital C. G. Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, 01307, Dresden, Germany
| | - Stefan Ehrlich
- Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, 01307, Dresden, Germany. .,Translational Developmental Neuroscience Section, Eating Disorder Research and Treatment Center at the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, 01307, Dresden, Germany.
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46
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Brain regions and functional interactions supporting early word recognition in the face of input variability. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2017; 114:7588-7593. [PMID: 28674020 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1617589114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Perception and cognition in infants have been traditionally investigated using habituation paradigms, assuming that babies' memories in laboratory contexts are best constructed after numerous repetitions of the very same stimulus in the absence of interference. A crucial, yet open, question regards how babies deal with stimuli experienced in a fashion similar to everyday learning situations-namely, in the presence of interfering stimuli. To address this question, we used functional near-infrared spectroscopy to test 40 healthy newborns on their ability to encode words presented in concomitance with other words. The results evidenced a habituation-like hemodynamic response during encoding in the left-frontal region, which was associated with a progressive decrement of the functional connections between this region and the left-temporal, right-temporal, and right-parietal regions. In a recognition test phase, a characteristic neural signature of recognition recruited first the right-frontal region and subsequently the right-parietal ones. Connections originating from the right-temporal regions to these areas emerged when newborns listened to the familiar word in the test phase. These findings suggest a neural specialization at birth characterized by the lateralization of memory functions: the interplay between temporal and left-frontal regions during encoding and between temporo-parietal and right-frontal regions during recognition of speech sounds. Most critically, the results show that newborns are capable of retaining the sound of specific words despite hearing other stimuli during encoding. Thus, habituation designs that include various items may be as effective for studying early memory as repeated presentation of a single word.
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47
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Benavides-Varela S, Gervain J. Learning word order at birth: A NIRS study. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2017; 25:198-208. [PMID: 28351534 PMCID: PMC6987835 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2017.03.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2016] [Revised: 03/03/2017] [Accepted: 03/09/2017] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
In language, the relative order of words in sentences carries important grammatical functions. However, the developmental origins and the neural correlates of the ability to track word order are to date poorly understood. The current study therefore investigates the origins of infants’ ability to learn about the sequential order of words, using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) with newborn infants. We have conducted two experiments: one in which a word order change was implemented in 4-word sequences recorded with a list intonation (as if each word was a separate item in a list; list prosody condition, Experiment 1) and one in which the same 4-word sequences were recorded with a well-formed utterance-level prosodic contour (utterance prosody condition, Experiment 2). We found that newborns could detect the violation of the word order in the list prosody condition, but not in the utterance prosody condition. These results suggest that while newborns are already sensitive to word order in linguistic sequences, prosody appears to be a stronger cue than word order for the identification of linguistic units at birth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Benavides-Varela
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padua, Italy; San Camillo Hospital IRCCS, Venice, Italy
| | - Judit Gervain
- Laboratoire Psychologie de la Perception, Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France; Laboratoire Psychologie de la Perception, CNRS, Paris, France.
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48
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Emberson LL, Cannon G, Palmeri H, Richards JE, Aslin RN. Using fNIRS to examine occipital and temporal responses to stimulus repetition in young infants: Evidence of selective frontal cortex involvement. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2017; 23:26-38. [PMID: 28012401 PMCID: PMC5253300 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2016.11.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2016] [Revised: 09/06/2016] [Accepted: 11/11/2016] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
How does the developing brain respond to recent experience? Repetition suppression (RS) is a robust and well-characterized response of to recent experience found, predominantly, in the perceptual cortices of the adult brain. We use functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to investigate how perceptual (temporal and occipital) and frontal cortices in the infant brain respond to auditory and visual stimulus repetitions (spoken words and faces). In Experiment 1, we find strong evidence of repetition suppression in the frontal cortex but only for auditory stimuli. In perceptual cortices, we find only suggestive evidence of auditory RS in the temporal cortex and no evidence of visual RS in any ROI. In Experiments 2 and 3, we replicate and extend these findings. Overall, we provide the first evidence that infant and adult brains respond differently to stimulus repetition. We suggest that the frontal lobe may support the development of RS in perceptual cortices.
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49
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Issard C, Gervain J. Adult-like processing of time-compressed speech by newborns: A NIRS study. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2016; 25:176-184. [PMID: 27852514 PMCID: PMC6987815 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2016.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2016] [Revised: 10/05/2016] [Accepted: 10/06/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Newborns’ perception of time-compressed speech is similar to that of adults. Newborns adapt to moderately compressed speech, but not to highly compressed speech. Adaptation to time-compressed speech happens at an auditory level. Adaptation to time-compressed speech involves the left temporoparietal regions.
Humans can adapt to a wide range of variations in the speech signal, maintaining an invariant representation of the linguistic information it contains. Among them, adaptation to rapid or time-compressed speech has been well studied in adults, but the developmental origin of this capacity remains unknown. Does this ability depend on experience with speech (if yes, as heard in utero or as heard postnatally), with sounds in general or is it experience-independent? Using near-infrared spectroscopy, we show that the newborn brain can discriminate between three different compression rates: normal, i.e. 100% of the original duration, moderately compressed, i.e. 60% of original duration and highly compressed, i.e. 30% of original duration. Even more interestingly, responses to normal and moderately compressed speech are similar, showing a canonical hemodynamic response in the left temporoparietal, right frontal and right temporal cortex, while responses to highly compressed speech are inverted, showing a decrease in oxyhemoglobin concentration. These results mirror those found in adults, who readily adapt to moderately compressed, but not to highly compressed speech, showing that adaptation to time-compressed speech requires little or no experience with speech, and happens at an auditory, and not at a more abstract linguistic level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cécile Issard
- Laboratoire Psychologie de la Perception, Université Paris Descartes, 75006 Paris, France; Laboratoire Psychologie de la Perception, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique UMR 8242, 75006 Paris, France
| | - Judit Gervain
- Laboratoire Psychologie de la Perception, Université Paris Descartes, 75006 Paris, France; Laboratoire Psychologie de la Perception, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique UMR 8242, 75006 Paris, France.
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50
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Kovács G, Schweinberger SR. Repetition suppression – An integrative view. Cortex 2016; 80:1-4. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2016.04.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2016] [Accepted: 04/29/2016] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
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