Three-Month-Olds’ Brain Responses to Upright and Inverted Faces and Cars

Abstract

We examined the processing of upright and inverted faces and cars in 3-month-old infants applying an event-related-potentials paradigm. The current study is the first to contrast human faces with an object category, cars, in a within-subjects design with infants. N290 amplitude was larger for inverted than upright faces, whereas no inversion effect was observed for cars. Moreover, N290 latency was enhanced for inverted faces and cars. This indicates that neural processing may already be partly face-specific in young infants.

Developmental Origins of the Face Inversion Effect

“…By 12 months, the P400 responds selectively to the orientation of human faces, but not monkey faces (Halit et al, 2003). In contrast, the N290 does not respond differentially to face orientation at 3 or 6 months, although at both ages it responds to species Halit et al, 2003; but see Peykarjou & Hoehl, 2013). By 12 months, however, the N290 responds differentially to the orientation of human faces, but not monkey faces, even though it also responds differentially based on species (Halit et al, 2003).…”

The development of face expertise: Evidence for a qualitative change in processing

“…Newborn visual acuity makes faces the single most important visual stimulus leading to early engagement with faces (Coulon, Guellai, & Streri, 2011). This explains why there are implicit measures of face processing in infants, measured using ERPs ) that appear to show differentiation between faces and objects (Peykarjou, Pauen, & Hoehl, 2016;Peykarjou, Wissner, & Pauen, 2017) and even between upright and inverted faces Peykarjou & Hoehl, 2013). While these measures do not show the ability to individuate faces, such data indicates significant learning about faces and the development of mechanisms to process faces prior to the age of participants tested here.…”

How do neural responses to eyes contribute to face-sensitive ERP components in young infants? A rapid repetition study

“…The N290 is enhanced for faces relative to matched visual noise in 3-month-olds (Halit, Csibra, Volein, & Johnson, 2004). At the same age, N290 amplitude is specifically enhanced by inversion of a face but not a car (Peykarjou & Hoehl, 2013). In addition, a posterior P400 is typically observed in infants' ERP responses to faces.…”