Music of infant-directed singing entrains infants’ social visual behavior

Lense, Miriam D.; Shultz, Sarah; Astésano, Corine; Jones, Warren R.

doi:10.1073/pnas.2116967119

Cited by 30 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…Bahrick & Lickliter., 2000; Bahrick et al., 2004). Of course, in the youngest infants in the sample (<∼6 months), infants preferentially looked at the eyes in both speech and song contexts, consistent with the importance of eye‐looking for social and emotional regulation (Farroni et al., 2002; Jones & Klin, 2013; Lense et al., 2022); however, even at these early age points, the preference for eyes was attenuated during song. Earlier and more rapid increases in mouth‐looking in song may also reflect more efficient processing of the sung signal, perhaps in part due to these multimodal, ID characteristics (e.g., slower tempo, increased AVS; Singh et al., 2009; Song et al., 2010).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 57%

Infant‐directed song potentiates infants’ selective attention to adults’ mouths over the first year of life

Alviar

Sahoo

Edwards

et al. 2023

Developmental Science

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The mechanisms by which infant‐directed (ID) speech and song support language development in infancy are poorly understood, with most prior investigations focused on the auditory components of these signals. However, the visual components of ID communication are also of fundamental importance for language learning: over the first year of life, infants’ visual attention to caregivers’ faces during ID speech switches from a focus on the eyes to a focus on the mouth, which provides synchronous visual cues that support speech and language development. Caregivers’ facial displays during ID song are highly effective for sustaining infants’ attention. Here we investigate if ID song specifically enhances infants’ attention to caregivers’ mouths. 299 typically developing infants watched clips of female actors engaging them with ID song and speech longitudinally at six time points from 3 to 12 months of age while eye‐tracking data was collected. Infants’ mouth‐looking significantly increased over the first year of life with a significantly greater increase during ID song versus speech. This difference was early‐emerging (evident in the first 6 months of age) and sustained over the first year. Follow‐up analyses indicated specific properties inherent to ID song (e.g., slower tempo, reduced rhythmic variability) in part contribute to infants’ increased mouth‐looking, with effects increasing with age. The exaggerated and expressive facial features that naturally accompany ID song may make it a particularly effective context for modulating infants’ visual attention and supporting speech and language development in both typically developing infants and those with or at risk for communication challenges. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://youtu.be/SZ8xQW8h93A.Research Highlights Infants’ visual attention to adults’ mouths during infant‐directed speech has been found to support speech and language development. Infant‐directed (ID) song promotes mouth‐looking by infants to a greater extent than does ID speech across the first year of life. Features characteristic of ID song such as slower tempo, increased rhythmicity, increased audiovisual synchrony, and increased positive affect, all increase infants’ attention to the mouth. The effects of song on infants’ attention to the mouth are more prominent during the second half of the first year of life.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 57%

Infant‐directed song potentiates infants’ selective attention to adults’ mouths over the first year of life

Alviar

Sahoo

Edwards

et al. 2023

Developmental Science

Self Cite

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“…The predictable rhythmic patterns, melodies, and lyrics of the song books may help dyads track how the song unfolds over time and contribute to increased attention and behavior modulation (Hardy & LaGasse, 2013;Miller et al, 2013). Song activities may also support attention and engagement because they naturally involve predictable and salient multimodal cues (e.g., head movements, gestures) that are coordinated with the rhythm of the song (Lense & Jones, 2016;Trehub et al, 2016) and because song activities modulate emotion and arousal levels in both partners in the dyad Fancourt & Perkins, 2018;Shenfield et al, 2003). These attributes of the song books might have made them more accessible for children and caregivers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parent-child nonverbal engagement during spoken versus sung book-sharing in preschoolers with and without autism

Liu

Schultz

Dai

et al. 2021

Psychology of Music

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Providing natural opportunities that scaffold interpersonal engagement is important for supporting social interactions for young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Musical activities are often motivating, familiar, and predictable, and may support both children and their interaction partners by providing opportunities for shared social engagement. We assessed multiple facets of nonverbal social engagement—child and caregiver visual attention and interpersonal movement coordination—during musical (song) and non-musical (picture) book-sharing contexts in caregiver–child dyads of preschoolers with ( n = 13) and without ( n = 16) ASD. Overall, children with ASD demonstrated reduced visual attention during the book sharing activity, as well as reduced movement coordination with their caregivers, compared to children with typical development. Children in both diagnostic groups, as well as caregivers, demonstrated greater visual attention (gaze toward the activity and/or social partner) during song books compared to picture books. Visual attention behavior was correlated between children and caregivers in the ASD group but only in the song book condition. Findings highlight the importance of considering how musical contexts impact the behavior of both partners in the interaction. Musical activities may support social engagement by modulating the behavior of both children and caregivers.

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“…However, infant gaze behavior during the playsong was neither associated with their neural tracking nor rhythmic movements in that condition. Instead, we found that neural tracking of lullabies was weaker when infants looked away from mothers' faces and bodies, suggesting that neural tracking is related to infants' attention towards the face (Lense et al, 2022). To disentangle factors underlying infants' neural tracking during ID songs, future studies thus need to include more in-depth analyses of the accompanying sensorimotor synchronization processes, including caregivers' movements (e.g., rocking, playful gestures, etc.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…For example, Cirelli et al (2016) showed that 7-month-old infants’ brains track the beat and meter of rhythmic patterns. At the behavioral level, infants coordinate their gaze with the beat of ID singing as early as 2 months of age (Lense et al, 2022), and adjust their movements to the tempo of the music they hear by 6 months (Ilari, 2015; Zentner & Eerola, 2010). This evidence suggests that young infants are not only receptive to but often also coordinate with music and other rhythmic sounds within their abilities.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…ID songs are often accompanied by idiosyncratic gestures (Eckerdal & Merker, 2009), energetic movement, and caregivers’ positive affect (Cirelli et al, 2020; Trehub et al, 2016), all of which are used by caregivers to attract infants’ attention, activate, and engage with them (Cirelli et al, 2020; Trehub & Trainor, 1998). Moreover, caregivers adjust their facial expressions and gaze to the timing of the ID songs (Lense et al, 2022). Still, it remains unclear how infants perceive and act upon live and dynamic ID singing.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Sing to me, baby: Infants show neural tracking and rhythmic movements to live and dynamic maternal singing

Nguyen

Reisner

Lueger

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Infant-directed singing has unique acoustic characteristics that may allow even very young infants to respond to the rhythms carried through the caregiver's voice. The goal of this study was to examine neural and movement responses to live and dynamic maternal singing in 7-month-old infants and their relation to linguistic development. In total, 60 mother-infant dyads were observed during two singing conditions (playsong and lullaby). In Study 1 (n = 30), we measured infant EEG and used an encoding approach utilizing ridge regressions to measure neural tracking. In Study 2 (n = 30), we coded infant rhythmic movements during the mother's singing. In both studies, we assessed children's vocabulary when they were 20 months old. In Study 1, we found above-threshold neural tracking of maternal singing, with superior tracking of lullabies than playsongs, and the acoustic features of infant-directed singing modulated tracking. In Study 2, infants showed more rhythmic movement to playsongs than lullabies. Importantly, neural coordination and rhythmic movement to playsongs were positively related to infants' expressive vocabulary at 20 months. These results highlight the importance of infants' brain and movement coordination to their caregiver's musical presentations, potentially as a function of musical variability.

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Music of infant-directed singing entrains infants’ social visual behavior

Cited by 30 publications

References 70 publications

Infant‐directed song potentiates infants’ selective attention to adults’ mouths over the first year of life

Infant‐directed song potentiates infants’ selective attention to adults’ mouths over the first year of life

Parent-child nonverbal engagement during spoken versus sung book-sharing in preschoolers with and without autism

Sing to me, baby: Infants show neural tracking and rhythmic movements to live and dynamic maternal singing

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