Face-sensitive cortical processing in early infancy.

BACKGROUND Debates about the developmental origins of adult face processing could be directly addressed if a clear infant neural marker could be identified. Previous research with infants remains open to criticism regarding the control stimuli employed. METHODS We recorded ERPs from adults and 3-month-old infants while they watched faces and matched visual noise stimuli. RESULTS We observed similar amplitude enhancement for faces in the infant N290 and adult N170. In contrast, the infant P400 showed only a latency effect, making it unlikely to be the main precursor of the adult N170. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that there is some degree of specificity of cortical processing of faces as early as 3 months of age.

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