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Updated: Sep 9, 2025

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Neurodevelopmental trajectories of face processing in infants: A review and future directions

Katherine Meltzoff1, Cameron A Ryczek1

  • 1School of Education, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA.

Infant Behavior & Development
|August 29, 2025
PubMed

Insights

This review examines electroencephalography (EEG) event-related potential (ERP) biomarkers for infant face perception. Findings show measurable differences in brain activity for infants at high risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Biomarkers

Background:

  • Face perception is crucial for infant social development, influencing joint attention, recognition, and emotion processing.
  • Event-related potential (ERP) biomarkers offer insights into neural mechanisms of face processing.
  • Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis and intervention can be improved by understanding early neural markers.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To synthesize 25 years of research on ERP biomarkers for infant face perception.
  • To compare face processing in neurotypical (NT) infants with infants at high risk for or diagnosed with ASD.
  • To explore the potential of ERPs as predictive biomarkers for early ASD identification.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing literature on ERPs (N290, P400, Nc) in infant face perception.
  • Analysis of studies comparing NT infants with infants at high risk for ASD.
  • Examination of longitudinal studies and those using varied stimuli or source localization.

Main Results:

  • Specific ERP components (N290, P400, Nc) show distinct responses to faces and emotions in NT infants.
  • Infants at high risk for ASD exhibit measurable differences in brain activity when viewing faces compared to low-risk infants.
  • Longitudinal and advanced analyses reveal subtle but significant differences in face processing between high-risk and low-risk infants.

Conclusions:

  • ERP biomarkers show promise for predicting ASD risk in infancy.
  • Early detection of differences in neural face processing can inform timely intervention strategies.
  • Further research is needed to refine understanding of developmental trajectories in face processing for NT and ASD infants.

Keywords:
ASDERPFace perceptionFace processing

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