Seeing touches early in life

Addabbo M, Longhi E, Bolognini N, et al. Seeing touches early in life. PLoS ONE. 2015;10(9): e0134549

Bodily illusions in young children: Developmental change in visual and proprioceptive contributions to perceived hand position.

We examined the visual capture of perceived hand position in forty-five 5- to 7-year-olds and in fifteen young adults, using a mirror illusion task. In this task, participants see their left hand on both the left and right (by virtue of a mirror placed at the midline facing the left arm, and obscuring the right). The accuracy of participants’ reaching was measured when proprioceptive and visual cues to the location of the right arm were put into conflict (by placing the arms at different distances from the mirror), and also when only proprioceptive information was available (i.e., when the mirror was covered). Children in all age-groups (and adults) made reaching errors in the mirror condition in accordance with the visually-specified illusory starting position of their hand indicating a visual capture of perceived hand position. Data analysis indicated that visual capture increased substantially up until 6 years of age. These findings are interpreted with respect to the development of the visual guidance of action in early childhood

Active Drumming Experience Increases Infants' Sensitivity to Audiovisual Synchrony during Observed Drumming Actions

In the current study, we examined the role of active experience on sensitivity to multisensory synchrony in six-month-old infants in a musical context. In the first of two experiments, we trained infants to produce a novel multimodal effect (i.e., a drum beat) and assessed the effects of this training, relative to no training, on their later perception of the synchrony between audio and visual presentation of the drumming action. In a second experiment, we then contrasted this active experience with the observation of drumming in order to test whether observation of the audiovisual effect was as effective for sensitivity to multimodal synchrony as active experience. Our results indicated that active experience provided a unique benefit above and beyond observational experience, providing insights on the embodied roots of (early) music perception and cognition

Olhar de bebês em desenvolvimento típico: correlações longitudinais encontradas The gaze of babies in typical development: longitudinal correlations

OBJETIVO: Verificar quais as correlações existentes longitudinalmente entre o foco de olhar de bebês, em situação de interação materno-filial livre, ao longo dos primeiros meses de desenvolvimento. MÉTODOS: Dezessete bebês saudáveis foram filmados por 30 minutos, mensalmente, entre zero e quatro meses de vida, em situações cotidianas com suas mães. As filmagens foram analisadas em intervalos consecutivos de 30 segundos, sendo registrada a presença ou ausência de 11 categorias de observação do olhar (alvos do olhar dos bebês), enquanto estes estavam em estado de alerta. RESULTADOS: Foram encontradas 21 correlações estatisticamente significantes entre as categorias de observação do olhar, sendo 16 positivas (76,2%) e cinco negativas (23,8%). O momento com maior número de correlações estatisticamente significantes foi na quarta filmagem, e o momento com menor número de correlações estatisticamente significantes foi na segunda filmagem. A correlação estatisticamente significante mais freqüente, encontrada em quatro dos cinco momentos de coleta (80%), foi entre as categorias " olhar para o rosto da mãe" e " olhar para os olhos da mãe" . CONCLUSÕES: Os resultados obtidos, à luz das informações existentes sobre o desenvolvimento inicial de jovens crianças, permitem imaginar relações entre suas competências sensoriais, cognitivas, sociais e afetivas e os alvos de seu olhar. O aprofundamento do tema, com investigações sobre indícios de atenção compartilhada nesta tenra fase, e reflexões sobre os objetos do olhar dos bebês e a saúde de seu desenvolvimento parecem contribuir para o diagnóstico e a prevenção de distúrbios do desenvolvimento.<br>PURPOSE: To verify the longitudinal existing correlations between the babies' target of look in the free maternal-filial situation along the first months of development. METHODS: Seventeen healthy babies aged between zero and four months of life were monthly videotaped for 30 minutes in daily situations with their mothers. The recordings were analyzed in consecutive intervals of 30 seconds, being registered the presence or absence of eleven categories of observation of the gaze (target of babies gaze), while they were in state of alertness. RESULTS: Twenty one statistically significant correlations were found among the categories of observation of the gaze, being 16 positive (76.2%) and five negative (23.8%). The moment with the highest number of statistically significant correlations was the fourth recording and the moment with the lowest number of statistically significant correlations was the second recording. The most frequent statistically significant correlation, found in four of five moments (80%) was between the categories " look to the mother's face" and " look to the mother's eyes" . CONCLUSION: The obtained results, related to the existing information on the initial development of young children, allow us to imagine relations between their sensorial, cognitive, social and affective competences and their gaze. The deepening of the theme, with investigations on indications of shared attention in this early phase and considerations about the targets of the babies' gaze and the health of their development seem to contribute to the diagnosis and the prevention of the development disorders

Lack of Visual Orienting to Biological Motion and Audiovisual Synchrony in 3-Year-Olds with Autism

It has been suggested that children with autism orient towards audiovisual synchrony (AVS) rather than biological motion and that the opposite pattern is to be expected in typical development. Here, we challenge this notion by showing that 3-year-old neurotypical children orient to AVS and to biological motion in point-light displays but that 3-year-old children with autism orient to neither of these types of information. Thus, our data suggest that two fundamental mechanisms are disrupted in young children with autism: one that supports orienting towards others' movements and one that supports orienting towards multimodally specified events. These impairments may have consequences for socio-cognitive development and brain organization