Relating Infant Fixations to Adult Cortical Activation Patterns Using the Natural Scenes Dataset

IF 3.2 1区心理学 Q2 PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL

Developmental Science Pub Date : 2025-09-19 DOI:10.1111/desc.70076

Brianna K. Hunter, John E. Kiat, Steven J. Luck, Lisa M. Oakes

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Visual attention develops rapidly across the first postnatal year, from reflexive eye movements driven by low-level stimulus properties to increasingly voluntary eye movements influenced by higher-order factors. To test the hypothesis that development reflects guidance by increasingly abstract features, we used representational similarity analysis to evaluate the representational link between gaze patterns (N = 47 5–7-month-old infants, N = 46 10–12-month old infants, N = 45 adults) and measurements of fMRI cortical activity patterns from adult participants as they viewed scenes from the Natural Scenes Dataset. We found that similarities across scenes for fixation patterns and neural activity patterns were significantly related only for low-level visual regions in younger infants but were related to mid-level regions in older infants and adults. These results support the hypothesis that, over development, visual attention shifts from being driven by the kinds of simple features represented in early visual cortex to being driven by the kinds of more abstract features found in mid-level areas of adult visual cortex. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkIV9QB0Uq8.

Summary

Prior research demonstrates that infant eye movements are initially driven by low-level stimulus properties but become increasingly adult-like and controlled by more abstract representations.
We evaluated the link between cortical activity patterns in adults (from the Natural Scenes Dataset) and gaze patterns in infants and adults viewing naturalistic scenes.
Fixation patterns were related only to low-level ventral stream regions in younger infants but to both low- and mid-level regions in older infants and adults.
These results support the hypothesis that visual attention development reflects guidance by increasingly abstract features like those coded by higher-order areas of adult visual cortex.

Abstract Image

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使用自然场景数据集将婴儿注视与成人皮层激活模式联系起来。

视觉注意在出生后的第一年迅速发展，从由低水平刺激特性驱动的反射性眼球运动到受高阶因素影响的越来越多的自愿眼球运动。为了验证发展反映了越来越抽象的特征引导的假设，我们使用表征相似性分析来评估凝视模式（N = 47个5-7个月大的婴儿，N = 46个10-12个月大的婴儿，N = 45个成年人）和成年参与者在观看自然场景数据集中的场景时的fMRI皮层活动模式之间的表征联系。我们发现，不同场景的注视模式和神经活动模式的相似性仅在较年幼的婴儿的低水平视觉区域显著相关，而在较大的婴儿和成人的中水平视觉区域相关。这些结果支持了一种假设，即随着发育，视觉注意力从早期视觉皮层的简单特征转变为成人视觉皮层中层区域的更抽象特征。本文的视频摘要可以在https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkIV9QB0Uq8上观看。摘要：先前的研究表明，婴儿的眼球运动最初是由低水平的刺激特性驱动的，但逐渐变得像成年人一样，并受到更抽象的表征的控制。我们评估了成人皮层活动模式（来自自然场景数据集）与婴儿和成人观看自然场景的凝视模式之间的联系。固定模式只与低度腹侧流区域有关，而与低度和中度腹侧流区域有关。这些结果支持了一种假设，即视觉注意力的发展反映了越来越抽象的特征的引导，比如那些由成人视觉皮层的高阶区域编码的特征。

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来源期刊

Developmental Science Multiple-

CiteScore

8.10

自引率

8.10%

发文量

132

期刊介绍： Developmental Science publishes cutting-edge theory and up-to-the-minute research on scientific developmental psychology from leading thinkers in the field. It is currently the only journal that specifically focuses on human developmental cognitive neuroscience. Coverage includes: - Clinical, computational and comparative approaches to development - Key advances in cognitive and social development - Developmental cognitive neuroscience - Functional neuroimaging of the developing brain