Event-Related Brain Potentials to Human Faces in Infants

Abstract

Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) in response to tachistoscopically presented photographs of 2 human faces were recorded for 4--7-month-old infants. For each infant 1 face was chosen to be presented frequently (p = .88, a low-information event) and the other infrequently (p = .12, a high-information event). Both types of events elicited in our infants a long-latency negative ERP wave (ca. 700 msec), termed Nc, and a long-latency positive wave (ca. 1,360 msec), termed Pc. We found that the discrepant, infrequently presented face elicited Nc waves which were higher in amplitude and longer in latency than those elicited by the frequent face. These differences suggest that our infants were able to remember the frequently presented face from trial to trial and to discriminate it from the discrepant face. The discrepant event elicited Pc waves which were insignificantly higher in amplitude than those elicited by frequent events. In adults and children, discrepant events have been found by numerous researchers to elicit positive P3 waves (latency ca. 300--800 msec). In our study, however, such waves could not be discerned. So, of all of the ERP waves which have been related to cognitive processes, the wave which is maturationally the earliest to appear is the Nc wave, which has been related to the perception of attention-getting events or events of interest to the subject. Our findings suggest that ERP responses could provide a sensitive means for investigating infant cognitive development since they do not depend upon an integrated motor-response system.

Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine and Autistic Spectrum Disorder: Report From the New Challenges in Childhood Immunizations Conference Convened in Oak Brook, Illinois, June 12–13, 2000

“…60,61,[63][64][65][66] Other findings of prenatal origin found in some cases included disruption of the cells of the inferior olive, 60 small and tightly packed cells in the amygdala and hippocampus, 61 disruption of the cingulate gyrus, 64 abnormalities in migration of cells in the cortex, 60 and hypoplasia of cranial nerve nuclei. 67 The following anatomic findings have been corroborated in a larger number of patients in neuroimaging studies but are not uniform findings in individuals with ASD: increased head size, 66,68 hypoplasia of the cerebellar vermis, 69 and decreased volume of the amygdala. 70 Nonspecific findings have included ventricular and temporal lobe asymmetry.…”

A behavioural and ERP investigation of 3-month-olds’ face preferences

“…The first of these components, the Nc, is a well-studied, mid-latency, negative deflection occurring at frontal-central electrodes. It has been reported to be of larger amplitude to infrequent compared to frequent stimuli in infants from 4 to 7 months ( Courchesne, Ganz & Norcia, 1981;Richards, 2003 ), but also of larger amplitude to familiar as compared to novel faces, and to familiar as compared to novel toys, at 6 months ( de Haan & Nelson, 1997 ). Overall, the Nc is interpreted as reflecting the infant's allocation of attention with greater negativity to the most "salient" stimulus ( Nelson, 1994;Nelson & Monk, 2001;Reynolds & Richards, 2005 ).…”

Not all emotions are created equal: The negativity bias in social-emotional development.

“…The results suggested that, compared to the negative component (Nc) elicited by the toys that had received positive and neutral displays, the amplitude of the Nc elicited by the toy that had received negative displays was significantly greater. The Nc is a negative deflection over frontal and central electrodes that occurs between 400 and 800 ms after the onset of the stimulus, and is generally interpreted as reflecting infants' allocation of attention, with greater amplitude indexing greater allocation of attention (Courchesne, Ganz, & Norcia, 1981;Nelson, 1994). Thus, L. J.…”