Neural mechanisms of face and gaze processing in infants

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1042.2024.01670

Abstract

Abstract: Faces and gaze direction are crucial social cues in interpersonal interactions. Investigating how infants, particularly newborns, process these cues enhances our understanding of the origins and development of human social abilities. A review of existing literature shows that neonates (0~28 days old) generally prefer human faces and direct gaze, while infants around 3 months old begin to follow gaze direction. Brain imaging studies reveal that infants older than 3 months exhibit neural responses to faces and gaze processing similar to those of adults.
Newborns demonstrate a preference for human faces from birth. They exhibit this bias regardless of whether presented with real faces, sketched faces, or face-like patterns with just three dots and a contour. Event-related potential (ERP) studies indicate that infants aged 3 to 6 months show brain responses similar to adults. Specifically, infants exhibit a stronger amplitude and shorter latency of N290 towards faces compared to objects, and a larger P400 amplitude when viewing familiar faces, with increased responses to inverted faces compared to upright faces and front faces compared to side faces. These infant ERP components resemble the adult face-specific N170 component. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies show that at 5 months of age, infants display stronger activation in the fusiform gyrus, occipital cortex, superior temporal sulcus, and medial prefrontal cortex when viewing faces compared to natural scenes. Moreover, 5-month-old infants exhibit a face-selective region in the fusiform gyrus that is functionally and anatomically similar to that in adults. Furthermore, infant face processing shows a right hemisphere dominance (or left visual field bias) similar to that seen in adults.
Newborns also show a preference for direct gaze, looking longer at faces with direct eye gaze compared to faces with averted gaze. They demonstrate a familiarity effect (longer gaze durations during face recognition tasks for familiar faces compared to unfamiliar ones) only for faces with direct gaze. Additionally, infants aged three months and older display gaze-following behavior, with faster and more accurate saccades towards targets in the direction of others' gaze. Gaze following develops gradually from 3 to 12 months, with 6 months being a critical period for development. ERP studies reveal that direct gaze faces elicit a stronger N290 amplitude in 4-month-old infants compared to averted gaze faces, with direct gaze also triggering brain activity resembling that of a smile: a notable increase in brain electrical power observed in bilateral posterior temporal regions and the left frontal region. In a gaze-following study, congruent targets evoked weaker positive slow wave (PSW) amplitudes in 4-month-old infants compared to incongruent targets, a component reflecting familiarity with the stimulus. Additionally, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) studies found that 5-month-old infants showed significant activation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal lobe when performing the "gaze cue-target" task, whereas 7- to 12-month-old infants showed activation of the right dorsolateral prefrontal lobe, reflecting the developmental shift from exogenous to endogenous processing of gaze.
Cognitive neuroscience theories on newborns' facial preference include Johnson's two-process model and Turati's "non-specificity" theory. Johnson's model suggests faces are distinct stimuli, indicating an innate human ability to recognize faces. Turati's theory argues that newborns' facial preference stems from a preference for certain non-specific visual structures, such as the "top-heavy" configuration (more elements in the upper part than the lower part) and "inner-outer match" (alignment of internal geometric shapes with external contours, such as both being inverted triangles). Both theories acknowledge newborns' innate preference for specific visual stimuli, differing on whether faces are inherently special stimuli. The cognitive neural theory on infants' processing of gaze direction, proposed by Johnson's research group, includes the fast-track modulator model. This model posits that gaze direction information is processed through two pathways: a slow cortical pathway involving regions such as the superior temporal sulcus and fusiform gyrus, and a fast sub-cortical pathway involving regions like the superior colliculus and amygdala. The sub-cortical fast pathway is fully functional at birth, enabling newborns to quickly identify direct gaze cues and gradually activating broader cortical pathways during development, allowing for the processing of more complex gaze information.
In summary, research on infant face perception and gaze direction indicates that: 1) Newborns prefer faces; 2) Newborns prefer direct gaze; 3) Infants engage in gaze following, enhanced by prior direct eye contact experiences; 4) Infants' neural responses and brain networks for processing faces and gaze resemble those of adults. Prior studies have focused on whether facial and gaze are distinct stimuli for newborns, providing compelling exclusive and neuroimaging evidence. Future research should consider isolating the physical properties of faces and gazes more completely. Regarding experimental techniques, magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a promising technology, as its multi-channel high-density capabilities can resolve neural responses in very small subcortical nuclei.

Key words: face, gaze direction, newborn, infant, social interaction

GUO Tongyang, MO Licheng, ZHANG Dandan. Neural mechanisms of face and gaze processing in infants[J]. Advances in Psychological Science, 2024, 32(10): 1670-1679.

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