1,721,227 research outputs found
Brain imaging technologies to study infant behavior and development
Full text linkBrain imaging techniques have developed in neuroscience to investigate neural mechanisms underlying early human development. Some methodologies measure electrical activity in different brain regions (Electroencephalography – EEG) or magnetic fields produced by electrical currents arising in the brain (Magnetoenchephalography – MEG). Others measure the level of oxygenation of the blood in different brain areas using near infrared light (Near Infrared Spectroscopy - NIRS) or magnetic fields (Magnetic Resonance Imaging - MRI). These techniques were initially developed to study human adults and not, until recently, utilized to study infant behavior and development. They are all rapidly gaining adherents and application, even as their adaptation to study infants is challenging and debatable and clear conventions about their use not settled.Ministry of Education (MOE)Accepted versionThis research was supported by the Nanyang Technological University NAP SUG Grant (GE), Singapore Ministry of Education’s Academic Research Fund Tier 1, Intramural Research Program of the NIH/NICHD, USA, (MHB) and an International Research Fellowship at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), London, UK, funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 695300-HKADeC-ERC-2015-AdG, MHB)
Noun and verb production in maternal and child language. Continuity, stability, and prediction across the second year of life
No full textThe present study examined continuity/discontinuity and stability/instability of noun and verb production measures in 30 child-mother dyads observed at 16 and 20 months, and predictive relations with the acquisition of nouns and verbs at 24 months. Children exhibited significant discontinuity and robust stability in the frequency of nouns and verbs between 16 and 20 months (over and above the contribution of maternal measures). By contrast, mothers showed small, but significant, increases in the total number of nouns and the percentages of nouns located in the initial and final utterance positions, together with a decrease in the percentage of verbs located in the initial position. After removing the variance explained by child language, mothers were stable only in the percentages of nouns located in the initial and final utterance positions. Finally, children’s production of nouns at 24 months was predicted by the percentages of nouns located in the initial and final positions of maternal utterances at 16 months. Maternal measures at 20 months did not predict children’s production of nouns nor for verbs at 24 months. Implications for language acquisition are discusse
Cognitive competences in preterm infants across the first year of life: Assessments of continuity, stability, coherence, prediction, and moderation by infant age and country of origin
No full textUnderstanding of preterm infant cognitive competences across the first year of life is limited regarding the developmental constructs of continuity, stability, coherence, and predictive validity as well as how they manifest by age and country of origin. This prospective longitudinal study examined and compared mean-level continuity, individual-differences stability, and associations among several cognitive competences as well as their predictive validity across the first year of life in preterm infants (gestational age range = 26–33 weeks) from Chile (n = 47), the United Kingdom (n = 48), and the United States (n = 50). Multiple cognitive competences (visual acuity measured with the Teller acuity card procedure; information processing duration of visual fixation and novelty preference examined with the Fagan Test of Infant Intelligence; Bayley Mental and Psychomotor Indexes) were evaluated at five different ages in preterm infants between 2 and 12 months in each country. The effects of infant age, country, and their interaction were examined. Visual acuity increased over time with different trajectories across countries, whereas duration of visual fixation decreased; both were stable across time. Novelty preference demonstrated continuity, but not stability across time and country. Associations among different cognitive competences varied by country. Across countries, duration of visual fixation predicted the Bayley Mental Development Index, and visual acuity predicted the Bayley Psychomotor Development Index. Cognitive competences develop in similar and dissimilar ways across the first year of life in infants born preterm from different countries. Cultural specificities and age variations are discussed. Study findings underscore the necessity to attend to specificities of domain, age, and place when assessing preterm infants’ cognitive competences
Secure attachment status is associated with white matter integrity in healthy young adults
Full text linkSelf-Cognition and Parental Brain
No full textA key feature of parenting is that it is observable starting from behaviors that are performed daily by adult caregivers during repeated interactions with the child. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) research on parental brain should integrate settings that resemble ecologies of situations in which parents typically care for children. However, as our commentators point out, ecological settings in fMRI research are challenging and require a multiperspective approach that systematically considers psychological and behavioral complexities of “mommy brain” to better understand how contingent mental states of mothers articulate with specific multi-tasking situations.Accepted versio
Implicit associations to infant cry: Genetics and early care experiences influence caregiving propensities
No full textAdults' sensitive appraisal of and response to infant cry play a foundational role in child development. Employing a gene × environment (G × E) approach, this study investigated the interaction of genetic polymorphisms of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) and oxytocin receptor genes (OXTR; rs53576, rs2254298) with early parental care experiences in influencing adults' implicit associations to infant cry. Eighty nulliparous adults (40 females, 40 males) responded to the Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire (PARQ), a measure of early care experiences, and participated in a Single Category Implicit Association Task (SC-IAT) to measure implicit associations to infant cry. Independent of parental experience, the valence of the implicit response to infant cry is associated with the serotonin transporter gene polymorphism (5-HTTLPR), with LL-carriers showing more positive implicit associations than S-carriers. OXTR rs53576 moderated the relation between parental rejection and implicit appraisal of infant cry: A-carriers who experienced negative early care showed an implicit positive appraisal of infant cry, whereas in GG carriers, positive early care experiences were associated with an implicit positive reaction to infant cry. OXTR rs2254298 had no relation to implicit associations to infant cry or to early care experiences. These findings cast light on the possible interplay of genetic inheritance and early environment in influencing adults' responses to infant cry that may be incorporated into screening protocols aimed at identifying at-risk adult-infant interactions
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