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Related Experiment Video

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Impression Formation in the Human Infant Brain.

Kathleen M Krol1, Tobias Grossmann1

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA.

Cerebral Cortex Communications
|November 2, 2020
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Infants use medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) processes to form impressions of friendly or threatening individuals. Early mPFC activity distinguishes social cues and predicts later preferences, highlighting its role in infant social cognition.

Keywords:
emotionfNIRSimpression formationinfancymPFC

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Social Cognition

Background:

  • Impression formation is crucial for social cognition in adults, linked to medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) function.
  • Understanding the neurodevelopmental origins of impression formation is essential for comprehending early social cognition.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the hypothesis that infants utilize medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) processes for forming impressions of friendly or threatening individuals.
  • To examine the neurodevelopmental emergence of impression formation and its link to mPFC activity in infants.

Main Methods:

  • Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) measured infant brain responses (N=77) to faces displaying smiles or frowns.
  • Infants viewed faces directed toward or away from them, followed by an eyetracking looking preference test with neutral expressions.

Main Results:

  • Infant mPFC responses differentiated between smiling and frowning faces when directed at them.
  • These mPFC brain responses predicted infants' subsequent preferences for specific face identities.

Conclusions:

  • The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is involved in impression formation during human infancy.
  • This suggests an early emergence of brain systems supporting person perception and adaptive social behavior in development.