Neural correlates of nonverbal social communication in high-risk infants

<p>The aim of this study was to replicate and extend a study by Grossmann and colleagues (2008), examining infant neural responses to gaze in 5-month-olds, to older and high-risk infants. Participants were 9-month-old infants (5 preterm, [3 female]; 12 full term [7 female]) who underwent fNIRS while viewing gaze paradigms. Findings revealed that hemisphere predicted peak oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO₂) across groups and conditions, with higher activation in the left hemisphere across groups. Interaction of group by condition predicted peak HbO₂ value, with an increase in activation in the high-risk group during the averted condition. Participants as random effects accounted for a significant amount of the variance, highlighting the importance of individual variability in infant studies. Lower activation in left frontal regions was related to higher expressive language while lower activation in right frontal and temporal regions was related to higher receptive language. Overall, higher activation was related to reduced language performance, negative affect, and behavior problems at 12 months.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS)

Level thesis:degree_level

Open Access Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Year dc:date.available

2018

Author dc:creator

• Swick, Casey E.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Renee Lajiness-O’Neill, PhD, Chair
• Jin Bo, PhD
• Catherine Peterson, PhD

• social communication
• infancy
• gaze
• preterm
• fNIRS
• Clinical Psychology

Repository record dc:identifier

https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1166

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:commons.emich.edu:theses-2537