Babies' ability to perceive nonverbal communication may be hard-wired
28 August 2008
Using two different imaging techniques, researchers at Birkbeck College and UCL studied the brain activity of infants in response to dynamic faces on a screen. The faces either established eye contact or averted their gaze, then raised their eyebrows and smiled.
The researchers found that two areas of the brain - the prefrontal cortex and the temporal cortex - responded to the face that had established eye contact. These two areas, which form part of the cortical network, are the same as those implicated in nonverbal communication in adults. This suggests that the cortical network specialises early or may even be hard-wired to perceive facial communication cues, which is essential for an infant's ability to interact with, and learn from, others.
"Our results show us that before they have spoken language, very young babies have fairly specialised brain mechanisms that allow them to pick up on nonverbal communicative signals," says Dr Tobias Grossmann, a Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow at Birkbeck College, London.
Dr Grossmann believes that earlier cortical specialisation for facial communication may be necessary because of the important role that social interaction plays in human development and learning. For example, infants are more likely to follow someone's direction of gaze if that person has previously established eye contact with them, and in the first year of life social interaction helps in learning language.
Image: Anthea Sieveking, Wellcome Images
References
Grossmann T et al. Early cortical specialization for face-to-face communication in human infants. Proc R Soc B; 27 Aug 2008.
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