Human infants’ ability to perceive touch in external space develops postnatally

Ali, Jannath Begum; Spence, Charles; Bremner, Andrew

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2015.08.055

Cited by 84 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…The normal development of functions not directly related to vision may require larger amounts of experience and therefore longer periods of visual input (Wallace & Stein, ). Indeed, recent reports have shown that significant postnatal experience is required to remap touch automatically in external space (Begum Ali et al., ; Bremner, Mareschal, et al., ; Rigato et al., ). Bremner, Mareschal, et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Sensitive Period for Tactile Remapping Does Not Include Early Infancy

et al. 2017

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Visual input during development seems crucial in tactile spatial perception, given that late, but not congenitally, blind people are impaired when skin-based and tactile external representations are in conflict (when crossing the limbs). To test whether there is a sensitive period during which visual input is necessary, 14 children (age = 7.95) and a teenager (LM; age = 17.38) deprived of early vision by cataracts, and whose sight was restored during the first 5 months and at age 7, respectively, were tested. Tactile localization with arms crossed and uncrossed was measured. Children showed a crossing effect indistinguishable from a control group (Ns = 28, age = 8.24), whereas LM showed no crossing effect (Ns controls = 14, age = 20.78). This demonstrates a sensitive period which, critically, does not include early infancy.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Sensitive Period for Tactile Remapping Does Not Include Early Infancy

et al. 2017

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“…Bremner, Mareschal, Lloyd‐Fox, and Spence () looked at infants’ first correct unilateral hand movement and orienting responses to hand stimulation in a crossed posture and observed that at 10 months, infants’ responses were modulated by the posture, whereas 6‐month‐olds performed equivalently. In a later study, responses to stimuli at crossed feet were modulated in 6‐month‐olds, but not in 4‐month‐old infants (Begum Ali et al ., ). The authors interpreted these results as indicating that the use of external or spatial information localizing touch develops between 4 and 6 months.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…() and Begum Ali et al . (). We expected infants to demonstrate functional knowledge about the body's configuration by producing specific orienting responses or movement and activity patterns associated with the stimulated body area (Watanabe & Taga, , ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Which limb is it? Responses to vibrotactile stimulation in early infancy

Somogyi

Jacquey

Heed

et al. 2017

British J of Dev Psycho

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This study focuses on how the body schema develops during the first months of life, by investigating infants’ motor responses to localized vibrotactile stimulation on their limbs. Vibrotactile stimulation was provided by small buzzers that were attached to the infants’ four limbs one at a time. Four age groups were compared cross‐sectionally (3‐, 4‐, 5‐, and 6‐month‐olds). We show that before they actually reach for the buzzer, which, according to previous studies, occurs around 7–8 months of age, infants demonstrate emerging knowledge about their body's configuration by producing specific movement patterns associated with the stimulated body area. At 3 months, infants responded with an increase in general activity when the buzzer was placed on the body, independently of the vibrator's location. Differentiated topographical awareness of the body seemed to appear around 5 months, with specific responses resulting from stimulation of the hands emerging first, followed by the differentiation of movement patterns associated with the stimulation of the feet. Qualitative analyses revealed specific movement types reliably associated with each stimulated location by 6 months of age, possibly preparing infants’ ability to actually reach for the vibrating target. We discuss this result in relation to newborns’ ability to learn specific movement patterns through intersensory contingency. Statement of contribution what is already known on infants’ sensorimotor knowledge about their own bodies 3‐month‐olds readily learn to produce specific limb movements to obtain a desired effect (movement of a mobile).infants detect temporal and spatial correspondences between events involving their own body and visual events. what the present study adds until 4–5 months of age, infants mostly produce general motor responses to localized touch.this is because in the present study, infants could not rely on immediate contingent feedback.we propose a cephalocaudal developmental trend of topographic differentiation of body areas.

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“…They found that at 3 months infants responded with global movements of their body and, at 5–6 months, infants responded more specifically with the hand or foot stimulated by the buzzer. Other studies showed that already at the earliest ages tested (6 months for the hands and 4 months for the feet) infants can locate an unseen vibrotactile stimulus on the hands (Bremner, Mareschal, Lloyd‐Fox, & Spence, ) and on the feet (Begum Ali, Bremner & Spence, ). In these studies, infants showed more manual and visual orientation towards the stimulated limb compared with the non‐stimulated limb.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of body knowledge as measured by arm differentiation in infants: From global to local?

Jacquey

Popescu

Vergne

et al. 2019

British J of Dev Psycho

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The ability to sense and use the body parts in an organized and differentiated manner is a precursor of body knowledge in infancy. To acquire this ability, the infant's brain might explore the perceptual consequences of its bodily actions. Undifferentiated body movements would gradually be replaced by more precise actions. Only a very few studies have tested this ‘global‐to‐local’ hypothesis, and none of them have so far been replicated. In this study, we assessed arm differentiation in 4‐, 6‐, and 8‐month‐old infants using a new contingency detection task in which infants have to detect a contingency between one of their arms’ activity and an audiovisual stimulus on a screen. We found that 4‐ to 8‐month‐old infants seem to be able to use their arms in a differentiated manner. However, surprisingly, we were not able to show a developmental trend in arm differentiation between 4 and 8 months of age. What is already known on this subject? Foetuses and infants possess coarse control of their body and may be sensitive to sensory feedback caused by their own movements. Body knowledge might develop during the first year of life in what can be called a ‘global‐to‐local’ manner. Nevertheless, the precise age at which infants come to possess well‐differentiated local body knowledge requires further investigation. What the present study adds? 4‐ to 8‐month‐old infants seem able to use their arms in a differentiated manner when exposed to an audiovisual stimulation contingent on movements of one of their arms. However, we found no developmental trend in arm differentiation between 4 and 8 months of age. We hypothesize that infants' sensitivity to sensorimotor contingencies and their ability to narrow down contingencies to a specific limb might evolve with age as a function of the infant's current sensorimotor interests.

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Human infants’ ability to perceive touch in external space develops postnatally

Cited by 84 publications

References 10 publications

The Sensitive Period for Tactile Remapping Does Not Include Early Infancy

The Sensitive Period for Tactile Remapping Does Not Include Early Infancy

Which limb is it? Responses to vibrotactile stimulation in early infancy

Development of body knowledge as measured by arm differentiation in infants: From global to local?

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