@article {5268, title = {Preliminary evidence for selective cortical responses to music in one-month-old infants}, journal = {Developmental Science}, year = {2023}, month = {03/2023}, abstract = {

Prior studies have observed selective neural responses in the adult human auditory cortex to music and speech that cannot be explained by the differing lower-level acoustic properties of these stimuli. Does infant cortex exhibit similarly selective responses to music and speech shortly after birth? To answer this question, we attempted to collect functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from 45 sleeping infants (2.0- to 11.9-weeks-old) while they listened to monophonic instrumental lullabies and infant-directed speech produced by a mother. To match acoustic variation between music and speech sounds we (1) recorded music from instruments that had a similar spectral range as female infant-directed speech, (2) used a novel excitation-matching algorithm to match the cochleagrams of music and speech stimuli, and (3) synthesized {\textquotedblleft}model-matched{\textquotedblright} stimuli that were matched in spectrotemporal modulation statistics to (yet perceptually distinct from) music or speech. Of the 36 infants we collected usable data from, 19 had significant activations to sounds overall compared to scanner noise. From these infants, we observed a set of voxels in non-primary auditory cortex (NPAC) but not in Heschl{\textquoteright}s Gyrus that responded significantly more to music than to each of the other three stimulus types (but not significantly more strongly than to the background scanner noise). In contrast, our planned analyses did not reveal voxels in NPAC that responded more to speech than to model-matched speech, although other unplanned analyses did. These preliminary findings suggest that music selectivity arises within the first month of life.

}, keywords = {auditory cortex, fMRI, infants, music, speech}, issn = {1363-755X}, doi = {10.1111/desc.13387}, url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/desc.13387}, author = {Heather L Kosakowski and Norman-Haignere, Samuel and Mynick, Anna and Takahashi, Atsushi and Saxe, Rebecca and Nancy Kanwisher} } @article {4980, title = {Selective responses to faces, scenes, and bodies in the ventral visual pathway of infants}, journal = {Current Biology}, volume = {32}, year = {2021}, month = {11/2021}, chapter = {1-20}, abstract = {

Three of the most robust functional landmarks in the human brain are the selective responses to faces in the fusiform face area (FFA), scenes in the parahippocampal place area (PPA), and bodies in the extrastriate body area (EBA). Are the selective responses of these regions present early in development or do they require many years to develop? Prior evidence leaves this question unresolved. We designed a new 32-channel infant magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) coil and collected high-quality functional MRI (fMRI) data from infants (2{\textendash}9\ months of age) while they viewed stimuli from four conditions{\textemdash}faces, bodies, objects, and scenes. We find that infants have face-, scene-, and body-selective responses in the location of the adult FFA, PPA, and EBA, respectively, powerfully constraining accounts of cortical development.

}, doi = {10.1016/j.cub.2021.10.064}, url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982221015086}, author = {Heather L Kosakowski and Cohen, Michael A. and Takahashi, Atsushi and Keil, Boris and Nancy Kanwisher and Rebecca Saxe} } @article {1959, title = {Preverbal Infants{\textquoteright} Third-Party Imitator Preferences: Animated Displays versus Filmed Actors}, year = {2016}, month = {05/2016}, address = {New Orleans, Louisiana}, abstract = {

Research on social imitation shows that, from toddlerhood to adulthood, individuals respond more positively to social partners who imitate them compared to those who do not (Chartrand \& Bargh, 1999; Meltzoff, 1990; Agnetta \& Rochat, 2004). It is unknown, however, whether (i) positive responses to imitation are present in the first year of life, before infants engage in robust social imitation themselves and (ii) whether positive evaluations of imitators are restricted to direct, 1st person interactions. A recent study found that infants 13 months old and younger who observed imitative and non-imitative interactions between animated, geometric figures looked at and reached for imitators more than non-imitators, but found no difference in looking to targets of imitation versus non-targets (Powell \& Spelke, in prep). These data suggest infants may recognize and prefer imitators on the basis of 3rd party observation. However, it is unknown whether this pattern would generalize from simplified, animated displays to more ecologically valid stimuli (e.g. videos of complex human movement).

In our current study, we tested 4- to 5.5-month-old infants (N = 112) using animations and videos of human actors. For both stimulus types, infants saw either two individuals take turns responding to a third, one imitating and one not (responders condition), or one individual respond to two others, imitating one but not the other (initiators condition; Figure 1). In the animated stimuli, each character jumped and made either a high- or low-pitched sound. In the video stimuli each actor made one of two hand motions modified from American Sign Language. The sound or motion matched in imitative interactions but not in non-imitative ones. Depending on condition, the experiment concluded with a differential looking test between either the imitating and non-imitating responder or the imitated and non-imitated initiator. A repeated measures ANOVA revealed a significant main effect of condition (F(1,97) = 6.58; P \< .05) but not of stimulus type (P \> 0.8) on infants{\textquoteright} looking during the preference test. Regardless of stimulus type, infants in the responders condition looked longer to imitators (M = 6.79 s) than non-imitators (M = 4.38 s; t(47) = 4.05 P \< 0.001), while infants in the targets condition did not differentiate between targets (M = 5.89 s) and non-targets of imitation (M = 6.09 s; t(48) = 0.80; P \> 0.2). We are replicating the responders condition using videos of new actors performing simpler actions. Preliminary results indicate infants (N = 14 of an intended 32) continue to look longer at imitators than non-imitators. The congruent results obtained with both animated and video stimuli confirm the validity of the use of animated stimuli for studying infant social cognition. Additionally, these results demonstrate that young infants recognize imitation as 3rd party observers and are biased to attend more to those who have imitated others. Consistent with social imitation research, our results suggest infants may have an early-emerging preference for imitators. This potential preference may lay the foundation for the capacity to engage in socially guided learning.\ 

}, author = {Heather L Kosakowski and Lindsey J Powell and Elizabeth S Spelke} } @article {2693, title = {Preverbal Infants{\textquoteright} Third-Party Imitator Preferences: Animated Displays versus Filmed Actors}, year = {2015}, month = {08/2015}, address = {MIT, Cambridge, MA}, author = {Heather L Kosakowski and Lindsey J Powell and Elizabeth S Spelke} } @article {1342, title = {Imitation Preferences of Preverbal Infants.}, year = {2014}, month = {08/2014}, publisher = {Poster presentation at the Center for Brain Minds and Machines Summer Conference, Cambridge, MA}, author = {Heather L Kosakowski and Lindsey J Powell and Elizabeth S Spelke} }