Categorical Representation of Facial Expressions in the Infant Brain

Autor/inn/en	Leppanen, Jukka M.; Richmond, Jenny; Vogel-Farley, Vanessa K.; Moulson, Margaret C.; Nelson, Charles A.
Titel	Categorical Representation of Facial Expressions in the Infant Brain
Quelle	In: Infancy, 14 (2009) 3, S.346-362 (17 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1525-0008
Schlagwörter	Nonverbal Communication; Child Development; Infants; Classification; Human Body; Cognitive Processes; Diagnostic Tests; Psychological Patterns; Brain Hemisphere Functions; Developmental Stages + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Non-verbal communication; Nonverbale Kommunikation; Kindesentwicklung; Infant; Toddler; Toddlers; Kleinkind; Classification system; Klassifikation; Klassifikationssystem; Menschlicher Körper; Cognitive process; Kognitiver Prozess; Diagnostic test; Diagnostischer Test
Abstract	Categorical perception, demonstrated as reduced discrimination of within-category relative to between-category differences in stimuli, has been found in a variety of perceptual domains in adults. To examine the development of categorical perception in the domain of facial expression processing, we used behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) methods to assess discrimination of within-category (happy-happy) and between-category (happy-sad) differences in facial expressions in 7-month-old infants. Data from a visual paired-comparison test and recordings of attention-sensitive ERPs showed no discrimination of facial expressions in the within-category condition, whereas reliable discrimination was observed in the between-category condition. The results also showed that face-sensitive ERPs over occipital-temporal scalp (P400) were attenuated in the within-category condition relative to the between-category condition, suggesting a potential neural basis for the reduced within-category sensitivity. Together, these results suggest that the neural systems underlying categorical representation of facial expressions emerge during the early stages of postnatal development, before acquisition of language. (Contains 3 figures and 2 footnotes.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10