The formation of object representations in the infant brain

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Moritz Köster
• Subject Area: Developmental and Educational Psychology ; Human Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience
• Term: since 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 428456948

In order to successfully navigate their physical environment young infants need to form basic visual representations. The early formation of new object representations has been intensely studied using looking-time paradigms (e.g., habituation-dishabituation; novelty preference paradigms) and event-related responses in the infant electroencephalogram (EEG). However, little is known about the neuronal oscillatory dynamics that underpin the formation of new object representations in the infant brain. Neuronal oscillations play a key role in the integration of distributed information across the brain and reflect learning mechanisms in human adults. Specifically, the 3-8 Hz theta rhythm has been identified as a functional mechanism in the formation of new object memories. Our main objective is to investigate the neuronal oscillatory mechanisms that underlie the formation of new object representations in infants, in the first year after birth. In work package 1 (WP 1) we will adopt classical object repetition paradigms and present new in contrast to familiarized (repeatedly presented) object stimuli to 6- and 12-month-old infants. We expect that theta activity will be higher for new compared to familiar objects, indicating ongoing learning processes. In work package 2 (WP 2) we will scrutinize the neuronal dynamics during infants’ habituation to new visual stimuli (cartoon monsters). We assume that higher theta activity is associated with more efficient encoding. Therefore, the amplitude of the theta rhythm during the first trials of habituation should predict infants’ habituation speed. In a second study of WP 2, we will experimentally manipulate the formation of new object representations by entraining infants’ neuronal oscillations. Specifically, the habituation phase will be preceded by a rhythmic visual stimulation phase. In this phase, stimuli will be flickered in the frequency that was associated with infants’ habituation speed in study one (presumably the theta rhythm) in order to facilitate infants’ object learning. We predict that experimentally increasing theta activity will result in more efficient, faster habituation in a subsequent habituation test, when contrasted to stimulation in a control rhythm (alpha frequency). Crucially, manipulating the encoding process with rhythmic visual brain stimulation allows us to establish the causal relevance of neuronal oscillations in the theta frequency for the formation of object representations. We will combine EEG assessment in early infancy and state of the art analysis methods adopted from neuroscience research in adults to perceptually entrain and analyze neuronal oscillatory dynamics in the developing human brain. This will enable us to shed light onto the unresolved puzzle of how infants form basic representations and to discern neuronal learning mechanisms in early infancy.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Austria
• Partner Organisation: Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung (FWF)
• Cooperation Partner: Professorin Stefanie Höhl, Ph.D.