Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 26, 2026
Scanning Dos and Don'ts: Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Awake Children Aged 3 to 5 Years to Assess Brain Structure and Function
Published on: March 10, 2026
Babies and brains: habituation in infant cognition and functional neuroimaging
Nicholas B Turk-Browne1, Brian J Scholl, Marvin M Chun
1Department of Psychology, Yale University New Haven, USA. nicholas.turk-browne@yale.edu
Insights
Infant habituation and adult brain habituation share similarities, suggesting a unified understanding of this cognitive process. Studying neuroimaging habituation can illuminate infant cognition, and vice versa.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Infant habituation, measured by declining looking times, has revealed insights into preverbal infant cognition.
- Adult brain habituation, observed as reduced hemodynamic responses in fMRI, has informed our understanding of neural mechanisms in perception and cognition.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the analogy between infant habituation and functional neuroimaging habituation in adults.
- To highlight how studying habituation in neuroimaging can offer new perspectives on infant cognition, and conversely.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of habituation phenomena in infant looking time studies and adult fMRI studies.
- Exploration of the mechanistic similarities and nuances between these two forms of habituation.
Main Results:
- Identified significant parallels in the mechanics of habituation across different age groups and methodologies.
- Proposed a framework for relating habituation in infant cognition to habituation in functional neuroimaging.
Conclusions:
- The analogy between infant and adult habituation provides a valuable framework for future research.
- Cross-disciplinary insights can deepen our understanding of the fundamental nature of habituation in cognitive processes.
Abstract:
Many prominent studies of infant cognition over the past two decades have relied on the fact that infants habituate to repeated stimuli - i.e. that their looking times tend to decline upon repeated stimulus presentations. This phenomenon had been exploited to reveal a great deal about the minds of preverbal infants. Many prominent studies of the neural bases of adult cognition over the past decade have relied on the fact that brain regions habituate to repeated stimuli - i.e. that the hemodynamic responses observed in fMRI tend to decline upon repeated stimulus presentations. This phenomenon has been exploited to reveal a great deal about the neural mechanisms of perception and cognition. Similarities in the mechanics of these two forms of habituation suggest that it may be useful to relate them to each other. Here we outline this analogy, explore its nuances, and highlight some ways in which the study of habituation in functional neuroimaging could yield novel insights into the nature of habituation in infant cognition - and vice versa.
Related Concept Videos
01:21The Nativist Approach
01:14Brain Imaging
These technologies include computerized axial tomography (CAT or CT scans), positron-emission tomography (PET scans), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS).