Exploring Infant Brain Responses to Audiovisual Looming Perception

This study utilized high-density electroencephalogram (EEG) to investigate how infants' brains respond to audiovisual looming perception. The researchers focused on prospective control, studying infants aged 3/4 months and 9/10 months as they perceived looming objects approaching on a direct collision course. The goal of the study was to find evidence of infant brain electrical responses to audiovisual looming stimuli at different accelerations. Different characteristics of peak visual evoked potentials (VEP) and auditory evoked potentials (AEP) were examined and compared between the infants at these different ages. The results revealed age-related differences in peak VEP and AEP activations. At 3/4 months of age, infants showed earlier peak activations in the looming sequence compared to when they were 9/10 months old. AEP peaks occurred before VEP peaks in the looming sequence at both ages. Interestingly, peak VEP activation was observed to propagate from the O area to the P area, indicating changes in activation patterns. The O area showed the highest activation at 3/4 months, while the P area exhibited the highest activation at 9/10 months. Additionally, amplitude activity in channels Cz and C3 indicated increased auditory area involvement in infants aged 9/10 months. These findings suggest that infants have an evolved capacity to integrate multisensory looming objects. The decrease in processing time, along with closer peak VEP and AEP activations to the loom's time-to-collision, indicates a developmental trend in infants' ability to predict an object's time-to-collision. Moreover, the occurrence of AEP before VEP in the looming sequence suggests an enhancement in audiovisual looming perception. Amplitude activity in different channels sheds light on the cortical pathways involved in multisensory looming perception. In summary, this study provides insights into the development of infant brain responses to audiovisual looming perception, highlighting the intricate interplay between visual and auditory processing pathways.

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