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Updated: Apr 13, 2026
EEG Mu Rhythm in Typical and Atypical Development
Published on: April 9, 2014
Infants' grip strength predicts mu rhythm attenuation during observation of lifting actions with weighted blocks
Michaela B Upshaw1, Raphael A Bernier2, Jessica A Sommerville1
1Department of Psychology, University of Washington, USA.
Insights
Infant grip strength influences action perception. Stronger infants show brain responses when watching actions, especially with heavier objects, indicating developing motor recognition.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Embodied Cognition
Background:
- The body's role in perception is established, influencing spatial and action perception.
- However, the impact of bodily characteristics on action perception in early development remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if infant bodily characteristics, specifically grip strength, influence action perception and its neural correlates.
- To examine the relationship between grip strength and mu rhythm attenuation during action observation in 12-month-old infants.
Main Methods:
- Grip strength was measured in 12-month-old infants.
- Electroencephalography (EEG) was used to record mu rhythm attenuation during observation of lifting actions with varying block weights.
Main Results:
- Infants with higher grip strength showed significant mu attenuation when observing lifting actions.
- This effect was more pronounced with increased block weight, suggesting a link to perceived effort.
- Lower grip strength infants did not exhibit significant mu attenuation.
Conclusions:
- Bodily characteristics, like grip strength, shape the neural basis of action perception in infants.
- Developing physical strength may enhance infants' ability to recognize the effort involved in actions.
- This research extends the understanding of the embodied nature of perception in early ontogeny.
Abstract:
Research has established that the body is fundamentally involved in perception: bodily experience influences activation of the shared neural system underlying action perception and production during action observation, and bodily characteristics influence perception of the spatial environment. However, whether bodily characteristics influence action perception and its underlying neural system is unknown, particularly in early ontogeny. We measured grip strength in 12-month-old infants and investigated relations with mu rhythm attenuation, an electroencephalographic correlate of the neural system underlying action perception, during observation of lifting actions performed with differently weighted blocks. We found that infants with higher grip strength exhibited significant mu attenuation during observation of lifting actions, whereas infants with lower grip strength did not. Moreover, a progressively strong relation between grip strength and mu attenuation during observation of lifts was found with increased block weight. We propose that this relation is attributable to differences in infants' ability to recognize the effort associated with lifting objects of different weights, as a consequence of their developing strength. Together, our results extend the body's role in perception by demonstrating that bodily characteristics influence action perception by shaping the activation of its underlying neural system.
