Publicação
Right STS responses to biological motion in infancy - an fNIRS study using point-light walkers
| Resumo: | Biological motion perception-our capacity to perceive the intrinsic motion of humans and animals-has been implicated as a precursor of social development in infancy. In the adult brain, several biological motion neural correlates have been identified; of particular importance, the right posterior superior temporal sulcus (rpSTS).We present a study, conducted with fNIRS, which measured brain activations in infants' right posterior temporal region to point-light walkers, a standard stimulus category of biological motion perception studies.Seven-month-old infants (n = 23) participated in a within-subject blocked design with three experimental conditions and one baseline. Infants viewed: an intact upright point-light walker of a person approaching the observer; the same point-light walker stimulus but inverted; and a selected frame from the point-light walker stimulus, approaching the viewer at constant velocity with no articulated motion, close to object motion.We found activations for both the upright and the inverted point-light walkers. The rigid moving point-light walker frame did not elicit any response consistent with a functional activation in this region.Our results suggest that biological motion is processed differently in the right middle posterior temporal cortex in infancy, and that articulated motion is a critical feature in biological motion processing at this early age. |
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| Autores principais: | Lisboa, Isabel C. |
| Outros Autores: | Miguel, Helga; Sampaio, Adriana; Mouta, Sandra; Santos, Jorge A.; Pereira, Alfredo F. |
| Assunto: | Biological motion Right STS Point-light walkers Infancy fNIRS Neurodevelopment |
| Ano: | 2020 |
| País: | Portugal |
| Tipo de documento: | artigo |
| Tipo de acesso: | acesso restrito |
| Instituição associada: | Universidade do Minho |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| Origem: | RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho |
| Resumo: | Biological motion perception-our capacity to perceive the intrinsic motion of humans and animals-has been implicated as a precursor of social development in infancy. In the adult brain, several biological motion neural correlates have been identified; of particular importance, the right posterior superior temporal sulcus (rpSTS).We present a study, conducted with fNIRS, which measured brain activations in infants' right posterior temporal region to point-light walkers, a standard stimulus category of biological motion perception studies.Seven-month-old infants (n = 23) participated in a within-subject blocked design with three experimental conditions and one baseline. Infants viewed: an intact upright point-light walker of a person approaching the observer; the same point-light walker stimulus but inverted; and a selected frame from the point-light walker stimulus, approaching the viewer at constant velocity with no articulated motion, close to object motion.We found activations for both the upright and the inverted point-light walkers. The rigid moving point-light walker frame did not elicit any response consistent with a functional activation in this region.Our results suggest that biological motion is processed differently in the right middle posterior temporal cortex in infancy, and that articulated motion is a critical feature in biological motion processing at this early age. |
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