Halit H, de Haan M, Johnson M H
Birkbeck College, University of London, London, UK.
Neuroimage. 2003 Jul;19(3):1180-93. doi: 10.1016/s1053-8119(03)00076-4.
The adult N170 is considered to be an electrophysiological marker of specialised mechanisms for face processing, but little is known about its developmental origin. Previous work has identified two face-sensitive infant ERP components (N290 and P400) (J. Cog. Neurosci. 14 (2002), 199). In the present study, we assessed the specificity (to upright human faces) of these infant components at 3 and 12 months. At 12 months the degree of specificity observed in both components was similar to that seen in the adult N170. In contrast, at 3 months of age the N290 and P400 did not show the same level of specificity for human faces as that observed at 12 months. Our findings suggest that (1) both face-sensitive components increase in their specificity for upright human faces during development, and (2) the adult N170 is not preceded by a single developmental precursor, but rather emerges as a consequence of the integration of two functionally and morphologically distinct components (N290 and P400).
成人的N170被认为是面部处理特殊机制的一种电生理标记，但对其发育起源却知之甚少。先前的研究已经识别出两种对面部敏感的婴儿事件相关电位成分（N290和P400）（《认知神经科学杂志》，第14卷，第199页，2002年）。在本研究中，我们评估了3个月和12个月大婴儿的这些成分（对直立人面）的特异性。在12个月大时，在这两种成分中观察到的特异性程度与在成人N170中看到的相似。相比之下，在3个月大时，N290和P400对人脸的特异性水平与在12个月大时观察到的不同。我们的研究结果表明：（1）在发育过程中，这两种对面部敏感的成分对直立人面的特异性都有所增加；（2）成人的N170并非由单一的发育前体所先导，而是由两种在功能和形态上不同的成分（N290和P400）整合而成。
