Nine-month-old infants update their predictive models of a changing environment

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Infant Cognition

Background:

• Humans form internal models to predict environmental events.
• The brain continuously updates these models in response to environmental changes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how 9-month-old infants update their internal models in a dynamic environment.
• To examine infants' differential neural responses to cues signaling environmental changes.

Main Methods:

• Infants observed predictable stimulus sequences interrupted by 'update' or 'no-update' cues.
• Electroencephalography (EEG) was used to measure neural responses, specifically the negative central (Nc) component and P300 (PSW).

Main Results:

• Infants showed an amplified negative central (Nc) response to interruptions in predictable sequences.
• No differential later neural responses (PSW) were found for the informational value of surprising cues.
• Infants exhibited an amplified neural response to the absence of an expected change, suggesting top-down modulation.

Conclusions:

• Infants learn that surprising cues signal environmental changes requiring model updating.
• Early sensory processing in infants is modulated by top-down predictions.
• Findings support the notion that infants build predictive models from a very early age.