Neural correlates of dyadic interaction during infancy

This study examines the electrophysiological correlates of dyadic interaction in 14-month-old infants. Infants were presented with three conditions of live stimuli. A baseline condition involved the observation of moving geometric shapes. In a second condition the infant observed an adult performing movements that were not in reference to the infant and were not within the infant's proficient motor repertoire, such as dancing or hopping. A third condition involved face to face dyadic interactions in the context of an imitative game, where the infant and adult engaged in copying each other's hand and facial actions. Motor activity by the infant was controlled between conditions by synchronizing EEG with video frames of action. Infant EEG data was then edited offline to match in motor intensity across conditions. We expected mu rhythm (6-9 Hz) suppression during dyadic interactions relative to the amount of mu present in the baseline condition. This prediction was confirmed. We also observed suppressed mu in the interaction condition relative to the observation condition. The mu rhythm results suggest that infants at 14 months may well utilize a functioning mirroring system during dyadic interactions.

[1]  T. Striano,et al.  Direct eye contact influences the neural processing of objects in 5-month-old infants , 2008, Social neuroscience.

[2]  R. Hari,et al.  Brain basis of human social interaction: from concepts to brain imaging. , 2009, Physiological reviews.

[3]  H. Théoret,et al.  The mirror neuron system: grasping others' actions from birth? , 2007, Developmental science.

[4]  J. Mazziotta,et al.  Neural mechanisms of empathy in humans: A relay from neural systems for imitation to limbic areas , 2003, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[5]  Mark H Johnson,et al.  Predictive motor activation during action observation in human infants , 2009, Biology Letters.

[6]  H. Théoret,et al.  EEG evidence for the presence of an action observation–execution matching system in children , 2006, The European journal of neuroscience.

[7]  R. Hari,et al.  Temporal dynamics of cortical representation for action. , 2000, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[8]  Claes von Hofsten,et al.  Using mu rhythm perturbations to measure mirror neuron activity in infants , 2008 .

[9]  Marcel Brass,et al.  Experience-based priming of body parts: A study of action imitation , 2008, Brain Research.

[10]  Marco Iacoboni,et al.  Visuo-motor integration and control in the human posterior parietal cortex: Evidence from TMS and fMRI , 2006, Neuropsychologia.

[11]  Mark H. Johnson,et al.  Biology and Cognitive Development: The Case of Face Recognition , 1993 .

[12]  Jay Belsky,et al.  Neural correlates of the perception of goal-directed action in infants. , 2007, Acta psychologica.

[13]  Blake W. Johnson,et al.  Mu rhythm modulation during observation of an object-directed grasp. , 2004, Brain research. Cognitive brain research.

[14]  J. Mazziotta,et al.  The essential role of Broca's area in imitation , 2003, The European journal of neuroscience.

[15]  Hein T. van Schie,et al.  You'll never crawl alone: Neurophysiological evidence for experience-dependent motor resonance in infancy , 2008, NeuroImage.

[16]  Andrew N Meltzoff,et al.  Neural correlates of action observation and execution in 14-month-old infants: an event-related EEG desynchronization study. , 2011, Developmental science.

[17]  Acquirement of stability and mobility in infant gait. , 2002, Gait & posture.

[18]  Evan M. Gordon,et al.  Developmental cognitive neuroscience , 2011, Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience.

[19]  A. Meltzoff,et al.  What imitation tells us about social cognition: a rapprochement between developmental psychology and cognitive neuroscience. , 2003, Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences.

[20]  E. Orekhova,et al.  Alpha activity as an index of cortical inhibition during sustained internally controlled attention in infants , 2001, Clinical Neurophysiology.

[21]  Mark H. Johnson,et al.  Motor System Activation Reveals Infants’ On-Line Prediction of Others’ Goals , 2010, Psychological science.

[22]  Martha Ann Bell,et al.  Power changes in infant EEG frequency bands during a spatial working memory task. , 2002, Psychophysiology.

[23]  P. Green.  Biology and Cognitive Development: the Case of Face Recognition, Mark H. Johnson, John Morton. Blackwell, Oxford (1991), x, +180. Price £35.00 hardback, £10.95 paperback , 1992 .

[24]  G. Pfurtscheller,et al.  Foot and hand area mu rhythms. , 1997, International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology.

[25]  Stefanie Hoehl,et al.  Neural mechanisms of joint attention in infancy , 2006, The European journal of neuroscience.

[26]  K. B. Sherrod,et al.  Parent-infant play during the first year of life , 1984 .

[27]  Jennifer H. Pfeifer,et al.  Understanding emotions in others: mirror neuron dysfunction in children with autism spectrum disorders , 2006, Nature Neuroscience.

[28]  J. Mazziotta,et al.  Cortical mechanisms of human imitation. , 1999, Science.

[29]  Joseph P. McCleery,et al.  EEG evidence for mirror neuron dysfunction in autism spectrum disorders. , 2005, Brain research. Cognitive brain research.

[30]  G. Pfurtscheller,et al.  Functional dissociation of lower and upper frequency mu rhythms in relation to voluntary limb movement , 2000, Clinical Neurophysiology.

[31]  A. Meltzoff,et al.  Neural mirroring systems: Exploring the EEG mu rhythm in human infancy , 2011, Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience.

[32]  Pär Nyström,et al.  The infant mirror neuron system studied with high density EEG , 2008, Social neuroscience.

[33]  Vincent M. Reid,et al.  Social cognition in the first year , 2006, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[34]  William Ickes,et al.  Everyday Mind Reading: Understanding What Other People Think and Feel , 2003 .

[35]  Lorena R. R. Gianotti,et al.  Brain sources of EEG gamma frequency during volitionally meditation-induced, altered states of consciousness, and experience of the self , 2001, Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging.

[36]  R. Hari,et al.  Viewing Lip Forms Cortical Dynamics , 2002, Neuron.

[37]  M. Iacoboni.  Mirroring People: The New Science of How We Connect with Others , 2008 .

[38]  M. A. Bell.  Brain Electrical Activity Associated With Cognitive Processing During a Looking Version of the A-Not-B Task. , 2001, Infancy : the official journal of the International Society on Infant Studies.

[39]  J. Mazziotta,et al.  Grasping the Intentions of Others with One's Own Mirror Neuron System , 2005, PLoS biology.

[40]  M. Iacoboni.  Neural mechanisms of imitation , 2005, Current Opinion in Neurobiology.

[41]  Daniel Stahl,et al.  Sensitivity to social contingencies between 1 and 3 months of age. , 2005, Developmental science.

[42]  G. Rizzolatti,et al.  Activation of human primary motor cortex during action observation: a neuromagnetic study. , 1998, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[43]  Elena V Orekhova,et al.  EEG alpha rhythm in infants , 1999, Clinical Neurophysiology.

[44]  Kerstin Rosander,et al.  Using mu rhythm desynchronization to measure mirror neuron activity in infants. , 2011, Developmental science.

[45]  T. Striano,et al.  The directed attention model of infant social cognition , 2007 .

[46]  Kazuo Hiraki,et al.  Infant's brain responses to live and televised action , 2006, NeuroImage.