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How to Obtain Reliable Visual Event-related Potentials in Newborns
Published on: October 24, 2019
Development of visual motion perception from infancy to early childhood in full-term and premature children: A
Jin Wang1, Belde Mutaf-Yildiz1, F R Ruud van der Weel1
1Developmental Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 7491, Trondheim, Norway.
Insights
Full-term infants develop visual motion perception earlier than preterm infants. Preterm children show persistent neurodevelopmental delays in visual processing into school age, possibly due to dorsal visual stream issues.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Visual Perception
Background:
- Accurate visual motion perception is vital for daily functioning and undergoes rapid development from infancy to childhood.
- Understanding the neurodevelopmental trajectories of visual motion processing in full-term versus preterm infants is crucial for identifying potential delays and interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To longitudinally investigate brain responses to visual motion in full-term and preterm children.
- To compare the developmental trajectories of visual motion perception between full-term and preterm infants from 4 months to 6 years of age.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal high-density electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings were used in 10 full-term and 10 preterm children at 4 months, 12 months, and 6 years.
- Visual evoked potential (VEP) analysis, temporal spectral evolution (TSE), and coherence connectivity analysis were employed to assess brain responses to structured optic flow and random visual motion.
Main Results:
- Full-term infants demonstrated enhanced sensitivity to structured optic flow by 12 months, while preterm children showed delayed sensitivity and difficulty distinguishing optic flow types until early childhood.
- Temporal spectral evolution revealed distinct patterns of brainwave synchronization and desynchronization across development, with full-term children showing more advanced patterns.
- Coherence connectivity analysis indicated more widespread functional connectivity in occipital and parietal areas for full-term children processing visual motion.
Conclusions:
- Full-term children exhibit significant progress in visual motion perception, approaching adult-like patterns by early childhood.
- Preterm children experience neurodevelopmental delays in visual processing that persist into school age, potentially linked to dorsal visual stream vulnerabilities.
- These findings highlight critical differences in visual processing development between full-term and preterm infants, underscoring the need for early monitoring and intervention for preterm populations.
Abstract:
Accurate perception of visual motion is crucial for daily activities and develops rapidly from infancy to childhood. High-density electroencephalogram (EEG) was utilized longitudinally to study brain responses to structured optic flow and random visual motion in 10 full-term and 10 preterm children at 4 months, 12 months, and 6 years. Visual evoked potential (VEP) analysis showed improved sensitivity to structured optic flow in full-term infants by the end of the first year, indicating effective use of structured information, whereas preterm children showed delayed sensitivity and difficulty distinguishing between different forms of optic flow until early childhood. Temporal spectral evolution (TSE) analysis revealed desynchronizations predominantly in the theta band at 4 months, transitioning to the theta-alpha band at 12 months, and extending into the alpha-beta band at 6 years. Synchronizations were observed in older full-term infants and in 6-year-olds at higher frequencies, more so in full-term children. Coherence connectivity analysis demonstrated more widespread functional connectivity within occipital and parietal areas in full-term participants compared to their preterm peers when processing visual motion. Overall, full-term children showed vast progress from infancy, approaching an adult-like pattern for perceiving visual motion by early childhood. In contrast, preterm children experienced neurodevelopmental delays that persisted into school age, likely linked to dorsal visual stream vulnerabilities.
