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Face processing in the infant brain after pandemic lockdown

View ORCID ProfileTristan S. Yates, Cameron T. Ellis, View ORCID ProfileNicholas B. Turk-Browne
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.01.26.477758
Tristan S. Yates
1Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
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Cameron T. Ellis
1Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
2Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
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Nicholas B. Turk-Browne
1Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
3Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
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  • For correspondence: nicholas.turk-browne@yale.edu
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Abstract

The role of visual experience in the development of face processing has long been debated. We present a new angle on this question through a serendipitous study that cannot easily be repeated. Infants viewed short blocks of faces during fMRI in a repetition suppression task. The same identity was presented multiple times in half of the blocks (Repeat condition) and different identities were presented once each in the other half (Novel condition). In adults, the fusiform face area (FFA) tends to show greater neural activity for Novel vs. Repeat blocks in such designs, suggesting that it can distinguish same vs. different face identities. As part of an ongoing study, we collected data before the COVID-19 pandemic and after an initial State lockdown was lifted. The resulting sample of 12 infants (9–24 months) divided equally into pre- and post-lockdown groups with matching ages and data quantity/quality. The groups had strikingly different FFA responses: pre-lockdown infants showed repetition suppression (Novel>Repeat), whereas post-lockdown infants showed the opposite (Repeat>Novel), often referred to as repetition enhancement. These findings provide speculative evidence that altered visual experience during the lockdown, or other correlated environmental changes, may have affected face processing in the infant brain.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted January 28, 2022.
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Face processing in the infant brain after pandemic lockdown
Tristan S. Yates, Cameron T. Ellis, Nicholas B. Turk-Browne
bioRxiv 2022.01.26.477758; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.01.26.477758
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Face processing in the infant brain after pandemic lockdown
Tristan S. Yates, Cameron T. Ellis, Nicholas B. Turk-Browne
bioRxiv 2022.01.26.477758; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.01.26.477758

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