Social gaze in preterm infants may act as an early indicator of atypical lateralization

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Pediatrics

Background:

• Visual field biases are linked to atypical lateralization in developmental conditions.
• Early lateralized gaze behavior in infants is crucial for social development.
• Limited research exists on visual field biases in preterm infants for social stimuli.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate visual field biases in preterm infants' gaze behavior towards social stimuli.
• To compare lateralized gaze patterns between preterm and term-born infants.
• To identify potential early markers of atypical lateralization in preterm infants.

Main Methods:

• Utilized eye-tracking technology to record infant gaze.
• Recruited 51 preterm and 61 term-born infants (8-10 months corrected age).
• Presented social and non-social visual stimuli to the left and right visual fields.

Main Results:

• Preterm infants displayed significantly reduced attention to left-sided social stimuli compared to right-sided stimuli, relative to term-born infants.
• A notable difference (d = .58) was observed in the orienting preferences between the two groups.
• Term-born infants showed typical visual field biases for social stimuli.

Conclusions:

• Preterm infants exhibit distinct early orienting preferences for social stimuli.
• These differential gaze patterns may serve as an early indicator of atypical lateralized function in preterm infants.
• Further research is warranted to explore the long-term implications of these findings.