The Neuroscience of Self-Other Correspondence in Infancy

Temple Univ Of The Commonwealth, Philadelphia PA

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Abstract

? DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed work addresses a clear gap in the literature on the early development of neural body maps, and as such will provide novel insights into a fundamental psychological task accomplished by the human infant: The recognition of similarities and differences between self and others. While this capacity is the bedrock of human social cognition, little is known about the neural processes involved in the early registration of correspondences between self and other. Recent work has suggested that studies employing the infant electroencephalogram (EEG) can shed light on the mechanisms that establish and support this prelinguistic mapping at the level of bodily actions. In particular, studies of the sensorimotor mu rhythm in the infant EEG, when taken together with developmental theory and extant behavioral data, are proving to be useful in illuminating the origins of imitative learning and interpersonal connections. In prior EEG work we showed the first evidence for the somatotopic organization of brain responses while 14-month-olds observed an adult's actions. These EEG findings are compatible with findings concerning body part specificity in behavioral imitation by younger infants, although various constraints have precluded the appearance of relevant neuroscience data from human infants in the first weeks and months of life. In the proposed studies we will expand on recent pilot work that has suggested a novel direction for assessing related EEG responses at younger ages. We propose two studies, one with 6-month-old infants and another with 1-month-old infants. In both studies we will analyze event-related EEG responses to discrete tactile stimuli delivered to the infant's hands and feet. In the study of 6-month-olds we will primarily examine whether the topography of the mu rhythm responses to the tactile stimuli is modulated by the infants' visual attention to a corresponding body part of a adult experimenter. In the study of 1-month-olds we will test for somatotopy of evoked responses to tactile stimulation of infants' hands and feet. As a further exploratory goal, in the second study, we will also examine the response to stimulation of the lower lip. The proposed work promises to open up exciting possibilities for studying developmental aspects of body maps, particularly their relation to social engagement processes, and the development of nascent interpersonal body representations in the first weeks and months of life.