Investigating Brain Responses to Looming Visual Stimuli in Infants

In this study, researchers used EEG to examine the brain activity of both full-term and preterm infants when presented with looming visual stimuli on a collision course. The aim was to understand how the brain processes and responds to these stimuli at different ages. The results showed that prematurity affects how the brain processes looming visual stimuli. At 12 months of age, preterm infants responded earlier to the stimuli compared to full-term infants, indicating a difference in their perception of approaching objects. Full-term infants at 12 months of age had switched to a strategy based on time, while preterm infants still relied more on visual angles. As the infants grew older, both full-term and preterm infants showed shorter brain activity durations in response to the looming stimuli. This suggests that their ability to process and respond to the stimuli became more efficient with age. Interestingly, there were differences in brain activity between the two groups. Full-term infants at 12 months of age showed increased brain activity in the Pz electrode compared to when they were 5 months old. However, preterm infants did not show this increase in brain activity with age. The findings suggest that preterm infants may have difficulties in perceiving and processing visual motion, which could be related to impairments in the dorsal visual stream. These early differences in visual processing could potentially indicate future visual processing disabilities as the infants grow older and face more complex tasks. Understanding how the brain responds to visual stimuli in infancy provides important insights into the development of visual perception and can help identify potential challenges that infants may face in their visual processing abilities

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