Department of psychology, Chuo University, 742-1, Higashinakano, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0393, Japan.
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 102-0083, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2019 Jul 23;9(1):10631. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-47129-0.
Yawning is contagious in human adults. While infants do not show contagious yawning, it remains unclear whether infants perceive yawning in the same manner as other facial expressions of emotion. We addressed this problem using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and behavioural experiments. We confirmed behaviourally that infants could discriminate between yawning and unfamiliar mouth movements. Furthermore, we found that the hemodynamic response of infants to a yawning movement was greater than that to mouth movement, similarly to the observations in adult fMRI study. These results suggest that the neural mechanisms underlying yawning movement perception have developed in advance of the development of contagious yawning.
打哈欠在成人中具有感染力。虽然婴儿不会表现出传染性打哈欠，但目前尚不清楚婴儿是否以与其他面部表情相同的方式感知打哈欠。我们使用功能近红外光谱 (fNIRS) 和行为实验来解决这个问题。我们通过行为确认了婴儿可以区分打哈欠和不熟悉的嘴部运动。此外，我们发现婴儿对打哈欠运动的血液动力学反应大于对嘴部运动的反应，这与成人 fMRI 研究的观察结果相似。这些结果表明，打哈欠运动感知的神经机制在传染性打哈欠发展之前就已经发展了。
