Attentional differences in audiovisual face perception between full- and preterm very low birthweight toddlers
Atsuko Nakagawa1, Masune Sukigara2, Kayo Nomura3
1Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nagoya City University, Nagoya, Japan.
Insights
Very preterm toddlers showed delayed rightward attention to faces and mouths compared to typically developing peers. This difference in visual attention may indicate altered brain development timing in VLBW infants.
Area of Science:
- Developmental neuroscience
- Cognitive development
- Audiovisual speech perception
Background:
- Early brain development influences cognitive and behavioral outcomes.
- Attentional biases, particularly rightward attention to faces, are observed in typically developing toddlers.
- Very preterm and low birthweight (VLBW) infants may exhibit altered developmental trajectories.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if rightward mouth attention during audiovisual speech perception serves as a behavioral marker for early brain development.
- To compare visual attention patterns in VLBW and typically developing (TD) toddlers.
Main Methods:
- Gaze distribution was analyzed in Japanese-learning TD and VLBW toddlers at 12, 18, and 24 months corrected age.
- Participants viewed talking, silent, and mouth-moving faces.
- Log-linear models analyzed gaze patterns across regions (eyes, mouth), sides (left, right), and groups (VLBW, TD).
Main Results:
- VLBW toddlers exhibited fewer gaze points than TD toddlers.
- At 12 months, VLBW toddlers showed a leftward attentional bias, which decreased by 24 months.
- TD toddlers consistently displayed rightward attention to talking faces from 12 to 24 months, while VLBW toddlers showed this bias only at 24 months.
- TD toddlers attended more to the mouth than VLBW toddlers.
Conclusions:
- Delayed development of attentional bias towards faces and mouths in VLBW toddlers may suggest altered timing in hemispheric specialization or dominance.
- Visual attention patterns can serve as potential behavioral markers for early brain development in at-risk infants.
Aim:
To investigate whether rightward attention to the mouth during audiovisual speech perception may be a behavioural marker for early brain development, we studied very preterm and low birthweight (VLBW) and typically developing (TD) toddlers.
Methods:
We tested the distribution of gaze points in Japanese-learning TD and VLBW toddlers when exposed to talking, silent and mouth moving faces at 12, 18 and 24 months (corrected age). Each participant was categorised based upon the area they gazed at most (Eye-Right, Eye-Left, Mouth-Right, Mouth-Left) per stimulus per age. A log-linear model was applied to three-dimensional contingency tables (region, side and group).
Results:
VLBW toddlers showed fewer gaze points than TD toddlers. At 12 months, more VLBW toddlers than TD toddlers showed left attentional bias toward any one face; however, this difference in attention asymmetry receded somewhat by 24 months. In talking condition, TD toddlers showed right attentional bias from 12 to 24 months, whereas VLBW toddlers showed such bias upon reaching 24 months. Additionally, more TD toddlers than VLBW toddlers attended to the mouth.
Conclusion:
Delays in exhibiting the attentional bias for an audiovisual face or general faces displayed by typically developing children might suggest differential developmental timing for hemispheric specialisation or dominance.
