Rigato Silvia, Stets Manuela, Dvergsdal Henrik, Holmboe Karla
Centre for Brain Science, Department of Psychology, University of Essex, UK.
Centre for Brain Science, Department of Psychology, University of Essex, UK.
Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2025 Jan;71:101502. doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2024.101502. Epub 2024 Dec 30.
It is well established that faces evoke a distinct neural response in the adult and infant brain. Past research has focused on how the infant face-sensitive ERP components (N290, P400, Nc) reflect different aspects of face processing, however there is still a lack of understanding of how these components reflect face familiarity and how they change over time. Further, there are only a few studies on whether these neural responses correlate with other aspects of development, such as infant temperament. In this longitudinal study (N∼60), we recorded infant visual ERPs in response to mother and stranger face stimuli at 4, 6 and 9 months of age. Our results showed that, compared to a stranger face, the mother face evoked a larger N290 at 4 months and a larger P400 at 6 months. At 9 months, no difference was found between mother and stranger faces. However, at 9 months we found that the P400 and Nc amplitudes evoked by the mother face were associated with infant falling reactivity. We conclude that the neural responses associated with the processing of faces, and specifically the face of the mother, are related to the development of infant individual characteristics.
众所周知，面孔会在成人和婴儿大脑中引发独特的神经反应。过去的研究主要集中在婴儿面孔敏感的ERP成分（N290、P400、Nc）如何反映面孔加工的不同方面，然而，对于这些成分如何反映面孔熟悉度以及它们如何随时间变化，仍缺乏了解。此外，关于这些神经反应是否与其他发育方面相关，如婴儿气质，只有少数研究。在这项纵向研究（N~60）中，我们记录了婴儿在4、6和9个月大时对母亲和陌生人面孔刺激的视觉ERP。我们的结果表明，与陌生人面孔相比，母亲面孔在4个月时诱发了更大的N290，在6个月时诱发了更大的P400。在9个月时，母亲面孔和陌生人面孔之间没有发现差异。然而，在9个月时，我们发现母亲面孔诱发的P400和Nc振幅与婴儿跌倒反应性有关。我们得出结论，与面孔加工相关的神经反应，特别是母亲的面孔，与婴儿个体特征的发展有关。
