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Jubran R, White H, Heck A, Chroust A, Bhatt RS. Body structure processing and attentional patterns in infancy and adulthood. INFANCY 2024; 29:1002-1021. [PMID: 39307918 DOI: 10.1111/infa.12624] [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] [Received: 11/18/2022] [Revised: 08/27/2024] [Accepted: 09/02/2024] [Indexed: 10/12/2024]
Abstract
Infants are sensitive to distortions to the global configurations of bodies by 3.5 months of age, suggesting an early onset of body knowledge. It is unclear, however, whether such sensitivity indicates knowledge of the location of specific body parts or solely reflects sensitivity to the overall gestalt of bodies. This study addressed this issue by examining whether, like adults, infants attend to specific locations where body parts have been reorganized. Results show that adults and 5-month-olds, but not 3.5-month-olds, allocated more attention to the body joint areas (e.g., where the arm connects to the shoulder) that were reorganized versus ones that were typical. To examine whether this kind of processing is driven by low-level features, 5-month-olds were tested on images in which the head was removed. Infants no longer exhibited differential scanning of typical versus reorganized bodies. Results suggest that 5-month-olds are sensitive to the location of body parts, thereby demonstrating adult-like response patterns consistent with early expertise in body processing. The contrasting failure of 3.5-month-olds to exhibit sensitivity to the reorganization suggests a developmental change between these ages.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Hannah White
- University of Missouri, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
| | | | - Alyson Chroust
- East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee, USA
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2
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Addabbo M, Licht V, Turati C. Infants' facial electromyographic responses to the sight of emotional interpersonal touch. INFANCY 2024; 29:660-671. [PMID: 38873865 DOI: 10.1111/infa.12600] [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] [Received: 01/20/2023] [Revised: 04/29/2024] [Accepted: 05/03/2024] [Indexed: 06/15/2024]
Abstract
Adult studies have shown that observed interpersonal touch provides crucial information about others' emotional states. Yet, despite the unique communicative function of touch during development, very little is known about infants' sensitivity to the emotional valence of observed touches. To investigate this issue, we measured facial electromyographic (EMG) activity in response to positive (caress) and negative (scratches) observed touches in a sample of 11-month-old infants. Facial EMG activity was measured over the zygomaticus major (ZM) and corrugator supercilii muscles, respectively involved in positive (i.e., smiling) and negative (i.e., frowning) facial expressions. Results have shown distinct activations of the ZM during the observation of scratches and caresses. In particular, significantly greater activation of the ZM (smiling muscle) emerged specifically in response to the observation of caresses compared to scratches. Our finding suggests that, in infancy, observed affective touches can evoke emotional facial reactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margaret Addabbo
- Department of Psychology, CRIdee, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milano, Italy
| | - Victoria Licht
- Department of Psychology, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milano, Italy
| | - Chiara Turati
- Department of Psychology, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milano, Italy
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3
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Kamiya C, Iwatani Y, Yoshimoto S, Taniguchi H, Kitabatake Y, Kagitani-Shimono K. Inter-hemispheric somatosensory coherence and parental stress in hypersensitivity at 8 months old: An electroencephalography study. Clin Neurophysiol 2024; 163:185-196. [PMID: 38759514 DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2024.04.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2023] [Revised: 04/03/2024] [Accepted: 04/17/2024] [Indexed: 05/19/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Infant hypersensitivity affects daily challenges and parental stress. Although the crucial role of tactile sensation in infants' brain function has been highlighted, hypersensitive infants and their families lack support. Electroencephalography may be useful for understanding hypersensitivity traits. We investigated the relationship between infant perceptual hypersensitivity and parental stress, somatosensory-evoked potential (SEP), and magnitude-squared coherence (MSC) in the general population. METHODS Infants aged 8 months (n = 63) were evaluated for hypersensitivity and parental stress using a questionnaire and for cortical activity using electroencephalography. Vibration stimuli were applied to the infant's left foot. SEP components that peaked around 150 ms (N2) and at 200 ms (P2) after stimulus onset were evaluated by amplitude and latency at the midline electrode (Cz) and MSC between the midline electrodes (C3-C4). RESULTS Parental stress was associated with infant hypersensitivity. The latency of Cz was delayed, and C3-C4 delta MSC was high in infants with hypersensitivity. CONCLUSIONS Increasing inter-hemispheric MSC synchrony in the stimulated condition in infants with hypersensitivity suggested atypical somatosensory cortical function. SIGNIFICANCE These findings contribute to identifying, understanding the mechanisms of, and developing effective coping strategies for early-stage hypersensitivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiori Kamiya
- Division of Developmental Neuroscience, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, 2-2, Yamadaoka, Suita City, Osaka Prefecture 565-0871, Japan
| | - Yoshiko Iwatani
- Division of Developmental Neuroscience, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, 2-2, Yamadaoka, Suita City, Osaka Prefecture 565-0871, Japan; Molecular Research Center for Children's Mental Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, 2-2, Yamadaoka, Suita City, Osaka Prefecture 565-0871, Japan; Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, 2-15, Yamadaoka, Suita City, Osaka Prefecture, 565-0871, Japan
| | - Shunsuke Yoshimoto
- Department of Human and Engineered Environmental Studies, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5, Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan
| | - Hidetoshi Taniguchi
- Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, 2-15, Yamadaoka, Suita City, Osaka Prefecture, 565-0871, Japan; Izumi Pediatric and Rehabilitation Clinic, 2-1-1, Higashiyama, Kaizuka City, Osaka Prefecture, Japan
| | - Yasuji Kitabatake
- Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, 2-15, Yamadaoka, Suita City, Osaka Prefecture, 565-0871, Japan
| | - Kuriko Kagitani-Shimono
- Division of Developmental Neuroscience, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, 2-2, Yamadaoka, Suita City, Osaka Prefecture 565-0871, Japan; Molecular Research Center for Children's Mental Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, 2-2, Yamadaoka, Suita City, Osaka Prefecture 565-0871, Japan; Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, 2-15, Yamadaoka, Suita City, Osaka Prefecture, 565-0871, Japan.
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Endevelt-Shapira Y, Bosseler AN, Mizrahi JC, Meltzoff AN, Kuhl PK. Mother-infant social and language interactions at 3 months are associated with infants' productive language development in the third year of life. Infant Behav Dev 2024; 75:101929. [PMID: 38581728 DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2024.101929] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2023] [Revised: 02/12/2024] [Accepted: 02/21/2024] [Indexed: 04/08/2024]
Abstract
Previous studies underscore the importance of social interactions for child language development-particularly interactions characterized by maternal sensitivity, infant-directed speech (IDS), and conversational turn-taking (CT) in one-on-one contexts. Although infants engage in such interactions from the third month after birth, the prospective link between speech input and maternal sensitivity in the first half year of life and later language development has been understudied. We hypothesized that social interactions embodying maternal sensitivity, IDS and CTs in the first 3 months of life, are significantly associated with later language development and tested this using a longitudinal design. Using a sample of 40 3-month-old infants, we assessed maternal sensitivity during a structured mother-infant one-on-one (1:1) interaction based on a well-validated scoring system (the Coding Interactive Behavior system). Language input (IDS, CT) was assessed during naturally occurring interactions at home using the Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA) system. Language outcome measures were obtained from 18 to 30 months of age using the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory. Three novel findings emerged. First, maternal sensitivity at 3 months was significantly associated with infants' productive language scores at 18, 21, 24, 27, and 30 months of age. Second, LENA-recorded IDS during mother-infant 1:1 interaction in the home environment at 3 months of age was positively correlated with productive language scores at 24, 27, and 30 months of age. Third, mother-infant CTs during 1:1 interaction was significantly associated with infants' productive language scores at 27 and 30 months of age. We propose that infants' social attention to speech during this early period-enhanced by sensitive maternal one-on-one interactions and IDS-are potent factors in advancing language development.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Alexis N Bosseler
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, USA
| | - Julia C Mizrahi
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, USA
| | - Andrew N Meltzoff
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Patricia K Kuhl
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, USA; Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of Washington, USA
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5
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Accardi C, Cerritelli F, Bovo L, Esteves JE. The osteopath-parent-child triad in osteopathic care in the first 2 years of life: a qualitative study. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1253355. [PMID: 37849480 PMCID: PMC10577191 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1253355] [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: 07/05/2023] [Accepted: 09/12/2023] [Indexed: 10/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Enactivism and active inference are two important concepts in the field of osteopathy. While enactivism emphasizes the role of the body and the environment in shaping our experiences and understanding of the world, active inference emphasizes the role of action and perception in shaping our experiences and understanding of the world. Together, these frameworks provide a unique perspective on the practice of osteopathy, and how it can be used to facilitate positive change in patients. Since the neonatal period is a crucial time for development, osteopaths should aim to create a therapeutic relationship. Arguably, through participatory sense-making, osteopaths can help the baby build a generative model (with positive priors) to deal with stress and needs throughout their life. Aim Since the literature considers that interactions with the environment, which enact the patients' experiences, depending on contextual factors and communication between patient and caregiver, this research explored whether there is a correspondence between the indications in the literature and clinical practice in the management of the mother/parent-child dyad during osteopathic care on children aged 0 to 2 years old. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of nine osteopaths with experience in the field of pediatrics. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, and constructivist grounded theory was used to conceptualize, collect and analyze data. Codes and categories were actively constructed through an interpretive/constructionist paradigm. Results The core category was the idea of the pediatric osteopath as a support for the family, not only for the child. Four additional categories were identified: (1) Preparing a safe environment for both children and parents, (2) Communication, (3) Attachment and synchrony, and (4) Synchronization. Conclusion Through participatory sense-making, osteopaths manage contextual factors to establish an effective therapeutic alliance through the osteopath-parent-child triad to facilitate the construction of the child's internal generative model to promote healthy development. The therapeutic encounter is considered an encounter between embodied subjects, occurring within a field of affordances (ecological niche) that allows the interlocutors to actively participate in creating new meanings through interpersonal synchronization. Participatory sense-making and the establishment of a therapeutic alliance through the osteopath-parent-child triad are crucial to promote healthy development in the child.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caterina Accardi
- Foundation COME Collaboration, Clinical-Based Human Research Department, Pescara, Italy
- Malta ICOM Educational Ltd., Gzira, Malta
| | - Francesco Cerritelli
- Foundation COME Collaboration, Clinical-Based Human Research Department, Pescara, Italy
| | - Lorenza Bovo
- Foundation COME Collaboration, Clinical-Based Human Research Department, Pescara, Italy
- Malta ICOM Educational Ltd., Gzira, Malta
| | - Jorge E. Esteves
- Foundation COME Collaboration, Clinical-Based Human Research Department, Pescara, Italy
- Malta ICOM Educational Ltd., Gzira, Malta
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6
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Li Q, Zhao W, Kendrick KM. Affective touch in the context of development, oxytocin signaling, and autism. Front Psychol 2022; 13:967791. [PMID: 36506943 PMCID: PMC9728590 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.967791] [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: 06/13/2022] [Accepted: 10/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Touch represents one of our most important senses throughout life and particularly in the context of our social and emotional experiences. In this review, we draw on research on touch processing from both animal models and humans. Firstly, we briefly describe the cutaneous touch receptors and neural processing of both affective and discriminative touch. We then outline how our sense of touch develops and summarize increasing evidence demonstrating how essential early tactile stimulation is for the development of brain and behavior, with a particular focus on effects of tactile stimulation in infant animals and pediatric massage and Kangaroo care in human infants. Next, the potential mechanisms whereby early tactile stimulation influences both brain and behavioral development are discussed, focusing on its ability to promote neural plasticity changes and brain interhemispheric communication, development of social behavior and bonding, and reward sensitivity through modulation of growth factor, oxytocin, and opioid signaling. Finally, we consider the implications of evidence for atypical responses to touch in neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder and discuss existing evidence and future priorities for establishing potential beneficial effects of interventions using massage or pharmacological treatments targeting oxytocin or other neurochemical systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qin Li
- School of Foreign Language, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
- Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Weihua Zhao
- Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Keith M. Kendrick
- Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
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Zhou H, Gao Q, Chen W, Wei Q. Action Understanding Promoted by Interoception in Children: A Developmental Model. Front Psychol 2022; 13:724677. [PMID: 35264994 PMCID: PMC8900726 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.724677] [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: 07/15/2021] [Accepted: 01/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Action understanding of children develops from simple associative learning to mentalizing. With the rise of embodied cognition, the role of interoception in action observation and action understanding has received more attention. From a developmental perspective, this study proposes a novel developmental model that explores how interoception promotes action understanding of children across ages. In early infancy, most actions observed in infants come from interactions with their caregivers. Babies learn about action effects through automatic interoceptive processing and interoceptive feedback. Interoception in early infancy is not fully developed, such as the not fully developed gastrointestinal tract and intestinal nervous system. Therefore, in early infancy, action understanding is based on low-level and original interoceptive information. At this stage, after observing the actions of others, infants can create mental representations or even imitate actions without external visual feedback, which requires interoception to provide internal reference information. By early childhood, children begin to infer action intentions of other people by integrating various types of information to reach the mentalizing level. Interoception processing requires the integration of multiple internal signals, which promotes the information integration ability of children. Interoception also provides inner information for reasoning about action intention. This review also discussed the neural mechanisms of interoception and possible ways by which it could promote action understanding of children. In early infancy, the central autonomic neural network (CAN) automatically processes and responds to the actions of caregivers on infants, providing interoceptive information for action understanding of infants. In infancy, the growth of the somatomotor system provides important internal reference information for observing and imitating the actions of infants. In early childhood, the development of interoception of children facilitates the integration of internal and external information, which promotes the mentalization of action understanding of children. According to the proposed developmental model of action understanding of children promoted by interoception, there are multilevel and stage-dependent characteristics that impact the role of interoception in action understanding of children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hui Zhou
- Center for Brain, Mind and Education, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, China
- Department of Psychology, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, China
| | - Qiyang Gao
- Center for Brain, Mind and Education, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, China
- Department of Psychology, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, China
| | - Wei Chen
- Center for Brain, Mind and Education, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, China
- Department of Psychology, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, China
| | - Qiaobo Wei
- Center for Brain, Mind and Education, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, China
- Department of Psychology, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, China
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8
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Understanding others through observed touch: neural correlates, developmental aspects, and psychopathology. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2021.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
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9
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Kosakowski HL, Cohen MA, Takahashi A, Keil B, Kanwisher N, Saxe R. Selective responses to faces, scenes, and bodies in the ventral visual pathway of infants. Curr Biol 2022; 32:265-274.e5. [PMID: 34784506 PMCID: PMC8792213 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.10.064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2021] [Revised: 09/27/2021] [Accepted: 10/28/2021] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Three of the most robust functional landmarks in the human brain are the selective responses to faces in the fusiform face area (FFA), scenes in the parahippocampal place area (PPA), and bodies in the extrastriate body area (EBA). Are the selective responses of these regions present early in development or do they require many years to develop? Prior evidence leaves this question unresolved. We designed a new 32-channel infant magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) coil and collected high-quality functional MRI (fMRI) data from infants (2-9 months of age) while they viewed stimuli from four conditions-faces, bodies, objects, and scenes. We find that infants have face-, scene-, and body-selective responses in the location of the adult FFA, PPA, and EBA, respectively, powerfully constraining accounts of cortical development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heather L Kosakowski
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, USA.
| | - Michael A Cohen
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, USA; Department of Psychology and Program in Neuroscience, Amherst College, 220 South Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA, USA
| | - Atsushi Takahashi
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Boris Keil
- Institute of Medical Physics and Radiation Protection, Department of Life Science Engineering, Mittelhessen University of Applied Science, Giessen, Germany
| | - Nancy Kanwisher
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Rebecca Saxe
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, USA
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Mittag M, Larson E, Taulu S, Clarke M, Kuhl PK. Reduced Theta Sampling in Infants at Risk for Dyslexia across the Sensitive Period of Native Phoneme Learning. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:ijerph19031180. [PMID: 35162202 PMCID: PMC8835181 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19031180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2021] [Revised: 01/12/2022] [Accepted: 01/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Research on children and adults with developmental dyslexia-a specific difficulty in learning to read and spell-suggests that phonological deficits in dyslexia are linked to basic auditory deficits in temporal sampling. However, it remains undetermined whether such deficits are already present in infancy, especially during the sensitive period when the auditory system specializes in native phoneme perception. Because dyslexia is strongly hereditary, it is possible to examine infants for early predictors of the condition before detectable symptoms emerge. This study examines low-level auditory temporal sampling in infants at risk for dyslexia across the sensitive period of native phoneme learning. Using magnetoencephalography (MEG), we found deficient auditory sampling at theta in at-risk infants at both 6 and 12 months, indicating atypical auditory sampling at the syllabic rate in those infants across the sensitive period for native-language phoneme learning. This interpretation is supported by our additional finding that auditory sampling at theta predicted later vocabulary comprehension, nonlinguistic communication and the ability to combine words. Our results indicate a possible early marker of risk for dyslexia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Mittag
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-7988, USA; (E.L.); (S.T.); (M.C.)
- Correspondence: (M.M.); (P.K.K.)
| | - Eric Larson
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-7988, USA; (E.L.); (S.T.); (M.C.)
| | - Samu Taulu
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-7988, USA; (E.L.); (S.T.); (M.C.)
- Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-7988, USA
| | - Maggie Clarke
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-7988, USA; (E.L.); (S.T.); (M.C.)
| | - Patricia K. Kuhl
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-7988, USA; (E.L.); (S.T.); (M.C.)
- Correspondence: (M.M.); (P.K.K.)
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Shen G, Weiss SM, Meltzoff AN, Allison ON, Marshall PJ. Exploring developmental changes in infant anticipation and perceptual processing: EEG responses to tactile stimulation. INFANCY 2021; 27:97-114. [PMID: 34617671 DOI: 10.1111/infa.12438] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2020] [Revised: 07/12/2021] [Accepted: 08/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
There is an increasing interest in alpha-range rhythms in the electroencephalogram (EEG) in relation to perceptual and attentional processes. The infant mu rhythm has been extensively studied in the context of linkages between action observation and action production in infancy, but less is known about the mu rhythm in relation to cross-modal processes involving somatosensation. We investigated differences in mu responses to cued vibrotactile stimulation of the hand in two age groups of infants: From 6 to 7 months and 13 to 14 months. We were also interested in anticipatory neural responses in the alpha frequency range prior to tactile stimulation. Tactile stimulation of infants' left or right hand was preceded by an audiovisual cue signaling which hand would be stimulated. In response to the tactile stimulus, infants demonstrated significant mu desynchronization over the central areas contralateral to the hand stimulated, with higher mu peak frequency and greater contralateral mu desynchronization for older infants. Prior to the tactile stimulus, both age groups showed significant bilateral alpha desynchronization over frontocentral sites, which may be indicative of generalized anticipation of an upcoming stimulus. The findings highlight the potential of examining the sensorimotor mu rhythm in the context of infant attentional development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guannan Shen
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Staci M Weiss
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Andrew N Meltzoff
- Institute for Learning and Brain Science, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Olivia N Allison
- Department of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadephia, Philadephia, USA
| | - Peter J Marshall
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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13
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Hsieh YW, Lee MT, Lin YH, Chuang LL, Chen CC, Cheng CH. Motor Cortical Activity during Observing a Video of Real Hand Movements versus Computer Graphic Hand Movements: An MEG Study. Brain Sci 2020; 11:E6. [PMID: 33374670 PMCID: PMC7822490 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11010006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2020] [Revised: 12/21/2020] [Accepted: 12/21/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Both action observation (AO) and virtual reality (VR) provide visual stimuli to trigger brain activations during the observation of actions. However, the mechanism of observing video movements performed by a person's real hand versus that performed by a computer graphic hand remains uncertain. We aimed to investigate the differences in observing the video of real versus computer graphic hand movements on primary motor cortex (M1) activation by magnetoencephalography. Twenty healthy adults completed 3 experimental conditions: the resting state, the video of real hand movements (VRH), and the video of computer graphic hand movements (CGH) conditions with the intermittent electrical stimuli simultaneously applied to the median nerve by an electrical stimulator. The beta oscillatory activity (~20 Hz) in the M1 was collected, lower values indicating greater activations. To compare the beta oscillatory activities among the 3 conditions, the Friedman test with Bonferroni correction (p-value < 0.017 indicating statistical significance) were used. The beta oscillatory activities of the VRH and CGH conditions were significantly lower than that of the resting state condition. No significant difference in the beta oscillatory activity was found between the VRH and CGH conditions. Observing hand movements in a video performed by a real hand and those by a computer graphic hand evoked comparable M1 activations in healthy adults. This study provides some neuroimaging support for the use of AO and VR in rehabilitation, but no differential activations were found.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu-Wei Hsieh
- Department of Occupational Therapy and Graduate Institute of Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan;
- Healthy Aging Research Center, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou 33305, Taiwan; (L.-L.C.); (C.-C.C.)
| | - Meng-Ta Lee
- Department of Occupational Therapy and Graduate Institute of Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan;
| | - Yu-Hsuan Lin
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Cathay General Hospital, Taipei 10630, Taiwan;
| | - Li-Ling Chuang
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou 33305, Taiwan; (L.-L.C.); (C.-C.C.)
- School of Physical Therapy and Graduate Institute of Rehabilitation Science, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan
| | - Chih-Chi Chen
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou 33305, Taiwan; (L.-L.C.); (C.-C.C.)
- School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan
| | - Chia-Hsiung Cheng
- Department of Occupational Therapy and Graduate Institute of Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan;
- Healthy Aging Research Center, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan
- Department of Psychiatry, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou 33305, Taiwan
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14
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Addabbo M, Bolognini N, Turati C. Neural time course of pain observation in infancy. Dev Sci 2020; 24:e13074. [PMID: 33314507 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2020] [Revised: 11/18/2020] [Accepted: 12/02/2020] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Perception of pain in others is of great evolutionary significance for the development of human empathy. However, infants' sensitivity to others' painful experiences has not been investigated so far. Here, we explored the neural time course of infants' processing of others' pain by measuring event-related brain potentials (ERPs) while 6-month-old infants observed a painful tactile stimulation directed towards the eye and a neutral tactile stimulation on the eyebrow. We analyzed both the Negative Central (Nc) and the later Late Positive Potential (LPP) ERP components, indexing respectively attention allocation and cognitive evaluation of perceptual stimuli. Results showed that observing painful touch elicits a mid-latency Nc (300-500 ms) over the right fronto-central site, which is greater in amplitude as compared to neutral touch. A divergent activity was also visible in the centro-parietal early (550-750 ms) and late (800-1000 ms) LPP, showing increased amplitudes in response to neutral compared to painful touch. The cognitive evaluation of painful stimuli, reflected by the LPP, might thus not be fully developed at 6 months of age, as adults typically show a larger LPP in response to painful as compared to neutral stimuli. Overall, infants show early attentional attuning to others' pain. This early sensitivity to others' painful tactile experiences might form a prerequisite for the development of human empathy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margaret Addabbo
- Department of Psychology & Milan Center for Neuroscience (NeuroMi, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Nadia Bolognini
- Department of Psychology & Milan Center for Neuroscience (NeuroMi, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.,Laboratory of Neuropsychology, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan, Italy
| | - Chiara Turati
- Department of Psychology & Milan Center for Neuroscience (NeuroMi, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
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15
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Carnes D, Bright P, Brownhill K, Carroll K, Engel R, Grace S, Vogel S, Vaucher P. Crying Unsettled and disTressed Infants Effectiveness Study of osteopathic care (CUTIES trial): Pragmatic randomised superiority trial protocol. INT J OSTEOPATH MED 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijosm.2020.08.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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16
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Abstract
Several adult studies have proved the existence of a shared neural circuit in the somatosensory cortices that responds to both the body being touched and the sight of the body being touched. Despite the fundamental role of touch in infancy, the existence of similar visuo-tactile mirroring processes, supporting both felt and seen touch, still needs an in-depth empirical investigation. To this aim, we explored 8-month-olds mu desynchronization over somatosensory sites in response to felt and observed touch in a live experimental setting. EEG desynchronization (6-8 Hz mu frequency range) was measured during three experimental conditions: i) infants were stroked on their right hand by a parent (Touch condition); ii) infants observed a right hand being stroked (Observation Touch condition); iii) infants observed a right hand moving over the left hand without making contact (Action Control condition). Mu desynchronization of somatosensory sites contralateral to the hand being stroked emerged in response to both Touch and Observation Touch conditions, but not in the Action control condition. Further, greater mu desynchronization was found in the Touch and Observation Touch conditions as compared to the Action control condition. Our results highlight the early involvement of a shared somatosensory system, likely supporting infants' understanding of others' tactile sensations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margaret Addabbo
- Department of Psychology, University of Milan-Bicocca , Milano, Italy.,NeuroMi, Milan Center for Neuroscience , Milano, Italy
| | - Ermanno Quadrelli
- Department of Psychology, University of Milan-Bicocca , Milano, Italy.,NeuroMi, Milan Center for Neuroscience , Milano, Italy
| | - Nadia Bolognini
- Department of Psychology, University of Milan-Bicocca , Milano, Italy.,NeuroMi, Milan Center for Neuroscience , Milano, Italy
| | - Elena Nava
- Department of Psychology, University of Milan-Bicocca , Milano, Italy.,NeuroMi, Milan Center for Neuroscience , Milano, Italy
| | - Chiara Turati
- Department of Psychology, University of Milan-Bicocca , Milano, Italy.,NeuroMi, Milan Center for Neuroscience , Milano, Italy
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17
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Importance of body representations in social-cognitive development: New insights from infant brain science. PROGRESS IN BRAIN RESEARCH 2020; 254:25-48. [PMID: 32859291 DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2020.07.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/04/2022]
Abstract
There is significant interest in the ways the human body, both one's own and that of others, is represented in the human brain. In this chapter we focus on body representations in infancy and synthesize relevant findings from both infant cognitive neuroscience and behavioral experiments. We review six experiments in infant neuroscience that have used novel EEG and MEG methods to explore infant neural body maps. We then consider results from behavioral studies of social imitation and examine what they contribute to our understanding of infant body representations at a psychological level. Finally, we interweave both neuroscience and behavioral lines of research to ground new theoretical claims about early infant social cognition. We propose, based on the evidence, that young infants can represent the bodily acts of others and their own bodily acts in commensurate terms. Infants initially recognize correspondences between self and other-they perceive that others are "like me" in terms of bodies and bodily actions. This capacity for registering and using self-other equivalence mappings has far-reaching implications for mechanisms of developmental change. Infants can learn about the affordances and powers of their own body by watching adults' actions and their causal consequences. Reciprocally, infants can enrich their understanding of other people's internal states by taking into account the way they themselves feel when they perform similar acts. The faces, bodies, and matching actions of people are imbued with unique meaning because they can be mapped to the infant's own body and behavior.
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18
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Chinn LK, Noonan CF, Lockman JJ. The Human Face Becomes Mapped as a Sensorimotor Reaching Space During the First Year. Child Dev 2020; 92:760-773. [PMID: 32730689 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13405] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Although recent behavioral and neural research indicates that infants represent the body's structure, how they engage self-representations for action is little understood. This study addressed how the human face becomes a reaching space. Infants (N = 24; 2-11 months) were tested longitudinally approximately every 3 weeks on their ability to reach to a vibrating target placed at different locations on the face. Successful reaches required coordinating skin- and body-based codes for location, a problem known as tactile remapping. Findings suggest that a functional representation of the face is initially fragmented. Infants localized targets in the perioral region before other areas (ears/temples). Additionally, infants predominantly reached ipsilaterally to targets. Collectively, the findings illuminate how the face becomes an integrated sensorimotor space for self-reaching.
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19
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Shen G, Meltzoff AN, Weiss SM, Marshall PJ. Body representation in infants: Categorical boundaries of body parts as assessed by somatosensory mismatch negativity. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2020; 44:100795. [PMID: 32716850 PMCID: PMC7303979 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2020.100795] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2019] [Revised: 04/10/2020] [Accepted: 05/05/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
There is growing interest in developing and using novel measures to assess how the body is represented in human infancy. Various lines of evidence with adults and older children show that tactile perception is modulated by a high-level representation of the body. For instance, the distance between two points of tactile stimulation is perceived as being greater when these points cross a joint boundary than when they are within a body part, suggesting that the representation of the body is structured with joints acting as categorical boundaries between body parts. Investigating the developmental origins of this categorical effect has been constrained by infants’ inability to verbally report on the properties of tactile stimulation. Here we made novel use of an infant brain measure, the somatosensory mismatch negativity (sMMN), to explore categorical aspects of tactile body processing in infants aged 6–7 months. Amplitude of the sMMN elicited by tactile stimuli across the wrist boundary was significantly greater than for stimuli of equal distance that were within the boundary, suggesting a categorical effect in body processing in infants. We suggest that an early-appearing, structured representation of the body into ‘parts’ may play a role in mapping correspondences between self and other.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guannan Shen
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, 1701 N. 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA.
| | - Andrew N Meltzoff
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
| | - Staci M Weiss
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, 1701 N. 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA
| | - Peter J Marshall
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, 1701 N. 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA
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20
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Marshall PJ, Meltzoff AN. Body maps in the infant brain: implications for neurodevelopmental disabilities. Dev Med Child Neurol 2020; 62:778-783. [PMID: 32277484 DOI: 10.1111/dmcn.14540] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2019] [Accepted: 03/09/2020] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
This review and synthesis discusses recent work that has utilized brain imaging methods, such as the electroencephalogram (EEG) and magnetoencephalogram, to provide insights into the ways that the body is represented in the infant brain. One aspect of body representation concerns somatotopic maps of the body surface in somatosensory cortex. A good deal is known about the properties of these maps in adults, but there has been relatively little developmental work. Recent studies have provided new insights into the organization of infant neural body maps and have laid the foundations for examining their plasticity in relation to behavioral development. Other work has suggested that neural body maps may be involved in the registration of correspondences between self and other, with implications for early social development. Here, body representations are discussed in the context of preterm birth and autism spectrum disorder, providing novel perspectives relevant to developmental medicine and child neurology. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: ●Somatotopic body maps develop prenatally through intrinsic and activity-dependent mechanisms. ●There is increasing interest in understanding postnatal plasticity in body maps. ●Body representations may be involved in the registration of preverbal, interpersonal relationships.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter J Marshall
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Andrew N Meltzoff
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
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21
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Jacquey L, Fagard J, O’Regan K, Esseily R. Développement du savoir-faire corporel durant la première année de vie du bébé. ENFANCE 2020. [DOI: 10.3917/enf2.202.0175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
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22
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Montirosso R, McGlone F. The body comes first. Embodied reparation and the co-creation of infant bodily-self. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2020; 113:77-87. [PMID: 32145222 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.03.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2020] [Revised: 03/02/2020] [Accepted: 03/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
During infancy relational experiences of body-to-body exchanges (i.e., embodied interactions) contribute to the infant's bodily perception. Early embodied interactions are based on countless multimodal reciprocal exchanges, in which mother and infant contribute to interpersonal rhythmic cycles of co-regulation (i.e., attunement). However, it remains unclear how infants and their mothers actually accomplish attunement in their exchanges. Interactions between mothers and their infants typically fluctuate between attuned and misattuned states and recovery attunement states by a process called 'reparation'. Here, we discuss recent neuroscientific evidence that provides insight into the mechanisms underpinning the concepts of attunement and misattunement in early embodied interactions. We propose that a process of embodied reparation might be achieved within the dyad through tactile contact behaviors (e.g., skin-to-skin, affectionate touch) and maternal interoceptive sensitivity (i.e., ability to perceive internal input about the state of one's own body). We describe how these elements that mothers provide during embodied interactions with their infants, might contribute not only to bodily attunement, but also to co-create the infant bodily-self.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosario Montirosso
- 0-3 Center for the at-Risk Infant, Scientific Institute IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Bosisio Parini (Lecco), Italy.
| | - Francis McGlone
- School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, LiverpoolJohn Moores University, Liverpool, UK; Institute of Psychology Health & Society, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
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23
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Botero M, Langley HA, Venta A. The untenable omission of touch in maternal sensitivity and attachment research. INFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/icd.2159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Maria Botero
- Psychology and Philosophy DepartmentSam Houston State University USA
| | | | - Amanda Venta
- Psychology and Philosophy DepartmentSam Houston State University USA
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24
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Magnetic Source Imaging and Infant MEG: Current Trends and Technical Advances. Brain Sci 2019; 9:brainsci9080181. [PMID: 31357668 PMCID: PMC6721320 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci9080181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2019] [Revised: 07/23/2019] [Accepted: 07/26/2019] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is known for its temporal precision and good spatial resolution in cognitive brain research. Nonetheless, it is still rarely used in developmental research, and its role in developmental cognitive neuroscience is not adequately addressed. The current review focuses on the source analysis of MEG measurement and its potential to answer critical questions on neural activation origins and patterns underlying infants’ early cognitive experience. The advantages of MEG source localization are discussed in comparison with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), two leading imaging tools for studying cognition across age. Challenges of the current MEG experimental protocols are highlighted, including measurement and data processing, which could potentially be resolved by developing and improving both software and hardware. A selection of infant MEG research in auditory, speech, vision, motor, sleep, cross-modality, and clinical application is then summarized and discussed with a focus on the source localization analyses. Based on the literature review and the advancements of the infant MEG systems and source analysis software, typical practices of infant MEG data collection and analysis are summarized as the basis for future developmental cognitive research.
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25
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Shen G, Meltzoff AN, Marshall PJ. Body representations as indexed by oscillatory EEG activities in the context of tactile novelty processing. Neuropsychologia 2019; 132:107144. [PMID: 31319120 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.107144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2018] [Revised: 05/07/2019] [Accepted: 07/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Neural oscillatory activities in different frequency bands are known to reflect different cognitive functions. The current study investigates neural oscillations involved in tactile novelty processing, in particular how physically different digits of the hand may be categorized as being more or less similar to one another. Time-frequency analyses were conducted on EEG responses recorded from a somatosensory mismatch protocol involving stimulation of the 1st, 3rd, and 5th digits. The pattern of tactile stimulation leveraged a functional category boundary between the 1st digit (thumb) and the other fingers. This functional category has been hypothesized to derive, in part, from the way that the hand is used to grasp and haptically explore objects. EEG responses to standard stimuli (the 3rd digit, probability of 80%) and two deviant stimuli (1st digit as across-boundary deviant and 5th digit as within-boundary deviant, probability of 10% each) were examined. Analyses of EEG responses examined changes in power as well as phase information. Deviant tactile stimuli evoked significantly greater theta event-related synchronization and greater phase-locking values compared to the corresponding control stimuli. The increase in theta power evoked by the contrast of the 3rd digit and the 1st digit was significantly larger than for the contrast between the 3rd and 5th digits. Desynchronization in the alpha and beta bands was greater for deviant than control stimuli, which may reflect increased local cortical excitation to novel stimuli, modulated by top-down feedback processes as part of a hierarchical novelty detection mechanism. The results are discussed in the context of the growing literature on neural processes involved in the generation and maintenance of body representations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guannan Shen
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, 1701 N. 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19122, USA.
| | - Andrew N Meltzoff
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, USA
| | - Peter J Marshall
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, 1701 N. 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19122, USA
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26
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Miyazaki M, Asai T, Mugitani R. Touching! An Augmented Reality System for Unveiling Face Topography in Very Young Children. Front Hum Neurosci 2019; 13:189. [PMID: 31244628 PMCID: PMC6579857 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2019.00189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2019] [Accepted: 05/22/2019] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Developmental body topography, particularly of the face, is a fundamental research topic in the current decade. However, empirical investigation of this topic for very young children faces a number of difficulties related to the task requirements and technical procedures. In this study, we developed a new task to study the spatially-sensed position of facial parts in a self-face recognition task for 2.5- and 3.5-year-old children. Using the technique of augmented reality (AR) and 3D face tracking technology, we presented participants with their projected self-image on a screen, accompanied by a digital mark located on parts of their face. We prepared a cheerful visual and auditory reward on the screen when participants showed correct localization of the mark. We then tested whether they could indicate the position of the mark on their own faces and remain motivated for task repetition. To assess the efficacy of this task, 31 2.5- and 11 3.5-year-old children participated in this study. About half of the 2.5-year-olds and 80% of the 3.5-year-olds could perform more than 30 trials. Our new task, then, was to maintain young children’s motivation for task repetition using the cheerful visual and auditory reward. The analysis of localization errors suggested the uniqueness of spatial knowledge of self-face in young children. The efficacy of this new task for studying the development of body image has been confirmed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michiko Miyazaki
- Department of Social Information Studies, Otsuma Women's University, Tokyo, Japan.,NTT Communication Science Laboratories, Atsugi, Japan
| | - Tomohisa Asai
- Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR), Kyoto, Japan
| | - Ryoko Mugitani
- NTT Communication Science Laboratories, Atsugi, Japan.,The Faculty of Integrated Arts and Social Sciences, Japan Women's University, Kanagawa, Japan
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27
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Heimann M, Tjus T. Neonatal imitation: Temporal characteristics in imitative response patterns. INFANCY 2019; 24:674-692. [DOI: 10.1111/infa.12304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2018] [Revised: 03/17/2019] [Accepted: 05/18/2019] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Mikael Heimann
- The Infant and Child Lab Division of Psychology Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning Linköping University Linköping Sweden
| | - Tomas Tjus
- Department of Psychology University of Gothenburg Gothenburg Sweden
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28
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Rochat P. Self-Unity as Ground Zero of Learning and Development. Front Psychol 2019; 10:414. [PMID: 30984048 PMCID: PMC6447668 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2018] [Accepted: 02/11/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Contrary to the suggestion that we are born in a state of confusion and primordial state of a-dualism with the environment, infancy research of the past 40 years shows that from the outset, infants are objective perceivers guided by rich evolved survival values of approach and avoidance in relation to specific resources in the environment such as faces, food, or smell. This starting-state competence drives and organizes their behavior. Evidence-based ascription of self-unity at birth is discussed. Selected findings are presented suggesting that self-unity is a primordial human experience, the main organizer of behavior from the outset. Self-unity is the necessary ground zero enabling the rapid learning and development taking place early in human life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philippe Rochat
- Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States
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29
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Pugach G, Pitti A, Tolochko O, Gaussier P. Brain-Inspired Coding of Robot Body Schema Through Visuo-Motor Integration of Touched Events. Front Neurorobot 2019; 13:5. [PMID: 30899217 PMCID: PMC6416207 DOI: 10.3389/fnbot.2019.00005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2018] [Accepted: 02/06/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Representing objects in space is difficult because sensorimotor events are anchored in different reference frames, which can be either eye-, arm-, or target-centered. In the brain, Gain-Field (GF) neurons in the parietal cortex are involved in computing the necessary spatial transformations for aligning the tactile, visual and proprioceptive signals. In reaching tasks, these GF neurons exploit a mechanism based on multiplicative interaction for binding simultaneously touched events from the hand with visual and proprioception information.By doing so, they can infer new reference frames to represent dynamically the location of the body parts in the visual space (i.e., the body schema) and nearby targets (i.e., its peripersonal space). In this line, we propose a neural model based on GF neurons for integrating tactile events with arm postures and visual locations for constructing hand- and target-centered receptive fields in the visual space. In robotic experiments using an artificial skin, we show how our neural architecture reproduces the behaviors of parietal neurons (1) for encoding dynamically the body schema of our robotic arm without any visual tags on it and (2) for estimating the relative orientation and distance of targets to it. We demonstrate how tactile information facilitates the integration of visual and proprioceptive signals in order to construct the body space.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ganna Pugach
- ETIS Laboratory, University Paris-Seine, CNRS UMR 8051, University of Cergy-Pontoise, ENSEA, Cergy-Pontoise, France
| | - Alexandre Pitti
- ETIS Laboratory, University Paris-Seine, CNRS UMR 8051, University of Cergy-Pontoise, ENSEA, Cergy-Pontoise, France
| | - Olga Tolochko
- Faculty of Electric Power Engineering and Automation, National Technical University of Ukraine Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - Philippe Gaussier
- ETIS Laboratory, University Paris-Seine, CNRS UMR 8051, University of Cergy-Pontoise, ENSEA, Cergy-Pontoise, France
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30
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Aguirre M, Couderc A, Epinat-Duclos J, Mascaro O. Infants discriminate the source of social touch at stroking speeds eliciting maximal firing rates in CT-fibers. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2019; 36:100639. [PMID: 30903992 PMCID: PMC6969234 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2019.100639] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2018] [Revised: 03/14/2019] [Accepted: 03/15/2019] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Infants’ cardiac response to touch varies depending on its social source. This effect occurs only for velocities yielding maximal firing rates in CTs. Infants’ responses to touch do not just depend upon its mechanical properties.
The evaluation of interpersonal touch is heavily influenced by its source. For example, a gentle stroke from a loved one is generally more pleasant than the same tactile stimulation from a complete stranger. Our study tested the early ontogenetic roots of humans’ sensitivity to the source of interpersonal touch. We measured the heart rate of three groups of nine-month-olds while their legs were stroked with a brush. The participants were stroked at a different speed in each group (0.3 cm/s, 3 cm/s, 30 cm/s). Depending on the Identity condition (stranger vs. parent), the person who acted as if she was stroking the infant’s leg was either an unfamiliar experimenter or the participant’s caregiver. In fact, the stimulation was always delivered by a second experimenter blind to the Identity condition. Infants’ heart rate decreased more in reaction to strokes when their caregiver rather than a stranger acted as the source of the touch. This effect was found only for tactile stimulations whose velocity (3 cm/s) is known to elicit maximal mean firing rates in a class of afferents named C-tactile fibers (CTs). Thus, the infants’ reaction to touch is modulated not just by its mechanical properties but also by its social source.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marie Aguirre
- Institute for Cognitive Sciences Marc Jeannerod, CNRS UMR 5304/Univ Lyon, Bron, France
| | - Auriane Couderc
- Institute for Cognitive Sciences Marc Jeannerod, CNRS UMR 5304/Univ Lyon, Bron, France
| | - Justine Epinat-Duclos
- Institute for Cognitive Sciences Marc Jeannerod, CNRS UMR 5304/Univ Lyon, Bron, France
| | - Olivier Mascaro
- Institute for Cognitive Sciences Marc Jeannerod, CNRS UMR 5304/Univ Lyon, Bron, France.
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31
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32
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Chen YH, Saby J, Kuschner E, Gaetz W, Edgar JC, Roberts TPL. Magnetoencephalography and the infant brain. Neuroimage 2019; 189:445-458. [PMID: 30685329 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.01.059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2017] [Revised: 01/10/2019] [Accepted: 01/22/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a non-invasive neuroimaging technique that provides whole-head measures of neural activity with millisecond temporal resolution. Over the last three decades, MEG has been used for assessing brain activity, most commonly in adults. MEG has been used less often to examine neural function during early development, in large part due to the fact that infant whole-head MEG systems have only recently been developed. In this review, an overview of infant MEG studies is provided, focusing on the period from birth to three years. The advantages of MEG for measuring neural activity in infants are highlighted (See Box 1), including the ability to assess activity in brain (source) space rather than sensor space, thus allowing direct assessment of neural generator activity. Recent advances in MEG hardware and source analysis are also discussed. As the review indicates, efforts in this area demonstrate that MEG is a promising technology for studying the infant brain. As a noninvasive technology, with emerging hardware providing the necessary sensitivity, an expected deliverable is the capability for longitudinal infant MEG studies evaluating the developmental trajectory (maturation) of neural activity. It is expected that departures from neuro-typical trajectories will offer early detection and prognosis insights in infants and toddlers at-risk for neurodevelopmental disorders, thus paving the way for early targeted interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu-Han Chen
- Lurie Family Foundations MEG Imaging Center, Dept. of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Joni Saby
- Lurie Family Foundations MEG Imaging Center, Dept. of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Emily Kuschner
- Lurie Family Foundations MEG Imaging Center, Dept. of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - William Gaetz
- Lurie Family Foundations MEG Imaging Center, Dept. of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - J Christopher Edgar
- Lurie Family Foundations MEG Imaging Center, Dept. of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Timothy P L Roberts
- Lurie Family Foundations MEG Imaging Center, Dept. of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
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Jubran R, White H, Chroust A, Heck A, Bhatt RS. Experimental Evidence of Structural Representation of Hands in Early Infancy. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL DEVELOPMENT 2019; 43:35-42. [PMID: 30858645 PMCID: PMC6407879 DOI: 10.1177/0165025418780360] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Hands convey important social information, such as an individual's emotions, goals, and desires, are used to direct attention through pointing, and are a major organ for haptic perception. However, very little is known about infants' representation of human hands. In Experiment 1, infants tested in a familiarization/novelty preference task discriminated between images of intact hands and ones that contained first-order structure distortions (i.e., with locations of fingers altered to result in an unnatural configuration). In Experiment 2, infants tested in a spontaneous preference task exhibited a preference for scrambled hand images over intact images, indicating that 3.5-month-olds have gained sufficient sensitivity to the configural properties of hands to discriminate between intact versus scrambled images without any training in the laboratory. In both procedures, infants' performance was disrupted by inversion of images, suggesting that infants' performance in the upright conditions was not based on low-level features. These results indicate that sensitivity to the structure of hands develops early in life. This early development may lay the foundation for the development of the functional use of hand information for social communication.
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Drew AR, Meltzoff AN, Marshall PJ. Interpersonal Influences on Body Representations in the Infant Brain. Front Psychol 2018; 9:2601. [PMID: 30622494 PMCID: PMC6308796 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02601] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2018] [Accepted: 12/04/2018] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Within cognitive neuroscience, there is burgeoning interest in how the body is represented in the adult brain. However, there are large gaps in the understanding of neural body representations from a developmental perspective. Of particular interest are the interconnections between somatosensation and vision, specifically infants’ abilities to register correspondences between their own bodies and the bodies of others. Such registration may play an important role in social learning and in engendering feelings of connectedness with others. In the current study, we further explored the interpersonal aspects of neural body representations by examining whether responses to tactile stimulation in 7-month-old infants are influenced by viewing another’s body. During EEG recording, infants (N= 60) observed a live presentation of an experimenter’s hand or foot being touched. During the presentation of touch to the adult’s hand or foot, the infant received a brief tactile touch to their right hand or right foot. This resulted in four conditions: (i) receive hand stimulation/observe hand stimulation, (ii) receive hand stimulation/observe foot stimulation, (iii) receive foot stimulation/observe hand stimulation, and (iv) receive foot stimulation/observe foot stimulation. Analyses compared responses overlying hand and foot regions when the observed limb matched the stimulated limb (congruent) and did not match (incongruent). In line with prior work, tactile stimulation elicited a somatotopic pattern of results in the somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) and the sensorimotor mu rhythm (6–9 Hz). Cross-modal influences were observed in the beta rhythm (11–13 Hz) response and in the late potential of the SEP response (400–600 ms). Beta desynchronization was greater for congruent compared to incongruent conditions. Additionally, tactile stimulation to the foot elicited larger mean amplitudes for congruent compared to incongruent conditions. The opposite was true for stimulation to the hand. This set of novel findings suggests the importance of considering cross-modal effects in the study of neural body representations in the infant brain. Continued work in this new area of infant neuroscience research can inform how interpersonal aspects of body representations may serve to undergird early social learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashley R Drew
- Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Andrew N Meltzoff
- Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Peter J Marshall
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, United States
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DiMercurio A, Connell JP, Clark M, Corbetta D. A Naturalistic Observation of Spontaneous Touches to the Body and Environment in the First 2 Months of Life. Front Psychol 2018; 9:2613. [PMID: 30619012 PMCID: PMC6305473 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2018] [Accepted: 12/05/2018] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Self-generated touches to the body or supporting surface are considered important contributors to the emergence of an early sense of the body and self in infancy. Both are critical for the formation of later goal-directed actions. Very few studies have examined in detail the development of these early spontaneous touches during the first months of life. In this study, we followed weekly four infants in two naturalistic 5-min sessions (baseline and toys-in-view) as they laid alert in supine from the age of 3 weeks until they acquired head control. We found that throughout the 2 months of observation, infants engaged in a high rate of touch and spent about 50% of the time moving their hands from one touch location to the next. On most sessions, they produced up to 200 body/surface contacts and touched as many as 18 different areas (mainly upper body and floor) both hands combined. When we did not consider the specific areas touched, the rates of touches were higher to the body than to the floor, but the duration of contacts and the most touched areas were higher for the supporting surface than for the body. Until the age of 9 weeks, we found no consistent differences in the rate of touch between head and trunk. Infants also did not display significant differences in their rate of touch between right and left hand or between conditions. However, we discovered that in the earlier weeks, infants engaged more often in what we called “complex touches.” Complex touches were touches performed across several body/floor areas in one continuous bout while the hand maintained contact with the body or floor. Single touches, in contrast, corresponded to one touch to one single body or floor area at a time. We suggest that infants are active explorers of their own body and peripersonal space from day 1 and that these early self-generated and deeply embodied sensorimotor experiences form the critical foundation from which future behaviors develop.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abigail DiMercurio
- Department of Psychology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Knoxville, TN, United States
| | - John P Connell
- Department of Psychology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Knoxville, TN, United States
| | - Matthew Clark
- Department of Psychology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Knoxville, TN, United States
| | - Daniela Corbetta
- Department of Psychology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Knoxville, TN, United States
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Shen G, Weiss SM, Meltzoff AN, Marshall PJ. The somatosensory mismatch negativity as a window into body representations in infancy. Int J Psychophysiol 2018; 134:144-150. [PMID: 30385369 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2018.10.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2018] [Revised: 10/19/2018] [Accepted: 10/29/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
How the body is represented in the developing brain is a topic of growing interest. The current study takes a novel approach to investigating neural body representations in infants by recording somatosensory mismatch negativity (sMMN) responses elicited by tactile stimulation of different body locations. Recent research in adults has suggested that sMMN amplitude may be influenced by the relative distance between representations of the stimulated body parts in somatosensory cortex. The current study uses a similar paradigm to explore whether the sMMN can be elicited in infants, and to test whether the infant sMMN response is sensitive to the somatotopic organization of somatosensory cortex. Participants were healthy infants (n = 31) aged 6 and 7 months. The protocol leveraged a discontinuity in cortical somatotopic organization, whereby the representations of the neck and the face are separated by representations of the arms, the hands and the shoulder. In a double-deviant oddball protocol, stimulation of the hand (100 trials, 10% probability) and neck (100 trials, 10% probability) was interspersed among repeated stimulation of the face (800 trials, 80% probability). Waveforms showed evidence of an infant sMMN response that was significantly larger for the face/neck contrast than for the face/hand contrast. These results suggest that, for certain combinations of body parts, early pre-attentive tactile discrimination in infants may be influenced by distance between the corresponding cortical representations. The results provide the first evidence that the sMMN can be elicited in infants, and pave the way for further applications of the sMMN in studying body representations in preverbal infants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guannan Shen
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, 1701 N. 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA.
| | - Staci M Weiss
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, 1701 N. 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA
| | - Andrew N Meltzoff
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Peter J Marshall
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, 1701 N. 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA
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Weiss SM, Meltzoff AN, Marshall PJ. Neural measures of anticipatory bodily attention in children: Relations with executive function. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2018; 34:148-158. [PMID: 30448644 PMCID: PMC6969295 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2018.08.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2018] [Revised: 08/20/2018] [Accepted: 08/21/2018] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to selectively direct attention to a certain location or modality is a key neurocognitive skill. One important facet of selective attention is anticipation, a foundational biological construct that bridges basic perceptual processes and higher-order cognition. The current study focuses on the neural correlates of bodily anticipation in 6- to 8-year-old children using a task involving tactile stimulation. Electroencephalographic (EEG) activity over sensorimotor cortex was measured after a visual cue directed children to monitor their right or left hand in anticipation of tactile stimulation. Prior to delivery of the tactile stimulus, a regionally-specific desynchronization of the alpha-range mu rhythm occurred over central electrode sites (C3/C4) contralateral to the cue direction. The magnitude of anticipatory mu rhythm desynchronization was associated with children's performance on two executive function tasks (Flanker and Card Sort). We suggest that anticipatory mu desynchronization has utility as a specific neural marker of attention focusing in young children, which in turn may be implicated in the development of executive function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Staci Meredith Weiss
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, 1701 N. 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19122, USA.
| | - Andrew N Meltzoff
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Box 357988, Seattle, WA 98195,USA
| | - Peter J Marshall
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, 1701 N. 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19122, USA
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Shen G, Smyk NJ, Meltzoff AN, Marshall PJ. Neuropsychology of Human Body Parts: Exploring Categorical Boundaries of Tactile Perception Using Somatosensory Mismatch Responses. J Cogn Neurosci 2018; 30:1858-1869. [PMID: 30024330 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
The focus of the current study is on a particular aspect of tactile perception: categorical segmentation on the body surface into discrete body parts. The MMN has been shown to be sensitive to categorical boundaries and language experience in the auditory modality. Here we recorded the somatosensory MMN (sMMN) using two tactile oddball protocols and compared sMMN amplitudes elicited by within- and across-boundary oddball pairs. Both protocols employed the identity MMN method that controls for responsivity at each body location. In the first protocol, we investigated the categorical segmentation of tactile space at the wrist by presenting pairs of tactile oddball stimuli across equal spatial distances, either across the wrist or within the forearm. Amplitude of the sMMN elicited by stimuli presented across the wrist boundary was significantly greater than for stimuli presented within the forearm, suggesting a categorical effect at an early stage of somatosensory processing. The second protocol was designed to investigate the generality of this MMN effect, and involved three digits on one hand. Amplitude of the sMMN elicited by a contrast of the third digit and the thumb was significantly larger than a contrast between the third and fifth digits, suggesting a functional boundary effect that may derive from the way that objects are typically grasped. These findings demonstrate that the sMMN is a useful index of processing of somatosensory spatial discrimination that can be used to study body part categories.
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Meltzoff AN, Saby JN, Marshall PJ. Neural representations of the body in 60-day-old human infants. Dev Sci 2018; 22:e12698. [PMID: 29938877 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12698] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2018] [Revised: 04/23/2018] [Accepted: 05/15/2018] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The organization of body representations in the adult brain has been well documented. Little is understood about this aspect of brain organization in human infancy. The current study employed electroencephalography (EEG) with 60-day-old infants to test the distribution of brain responses to tactile stimulation of three different body parts: hand, foot, and lip. Analyses focused on a prominent positive response occurring at 150-200 ms in the somatosensory evoked potential at central and parietal electrode sites. The results show differential electrophysiological signatures for touch of these three body parts. Stimulation of the left hand was associated with greater positive amplitude over the lateral central region contralateral to the side stimulated. Left foot stimulation was associated with greater positivity over the midline parietal site. Stimulation of the midline of the upper lip was associated with a strong bilateral response over the central region. These findings provide new insights into the neural representation of the body in infancy and shed light on research and theories about the involvement of somatosensory cortex in infant imitation and social perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew N Meltzoff
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
| | - Joni N Saby
- Department of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Peter J Marshall
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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