Combining Real-Time Neuroimaging With Machine Learning to Study Attention to Familiar Faces During Infancy: A Proof of Principle Study.

Looking at caregivers' faces is important for early social development, and there is a concomitant increase in neural correlates of attention to familiar versus novel faces in the first 6 months. However, by 12 months of age brain responses may not differentiate between familiar and unfamiliar faces. Traditional group-based analyses do not examine whether these 'null' findings stem from a true lack of preference within individual infants, or whether groups of infants show individually strong but heterogeneous preferences for familiar versus unfamiliar faces.

The potential and translational application of infant genetic research.

In the current genomic revolution, the infancy life stage is the most neglected. Although clinical genetics recognizes the value of early identification in infancy of rare genetic causes of disorders and delay, common genetic variation is almost completely ignored in research on infant behavioral and neurodevelopmental traits. In this Perspective, we argue for a much-needed surge in research on common genetic variation influencing infant neurodevelopment and behavior, findings that would be relevant for all children.

Neuroadaptive Bayesian optimisation can allow integrative design spaces at the individual level in the social and behavioural sciences… and beyond.

Almaatouq et al. propose an integrative experiment design space combined with large samples for scientific advancement. We argue recent innovative designs combining closed-loop experiment designs and Bayesian optimisation allow for integrative experiments at an individual level during a single session, circumventing the necessity for large samples.

Real-time monitoring of infant theta power during naturalistic social experiences.

Infant-directed speech and direct gaze are important social cues that shape infant's attention to their parents. Traditional methods for probing their effect on infant attention involve a small number of pre-selected screen-based stimuli, which do not capture the complexity of real-world interactions. Here, we used neuroadaptive Bayesian Optimization (NBO) to search a large 'space' of different naturalistic social experiences that systematically varied in their visual (gaze direct to averted) and auditory properties (infant directed speech to nonvocal sounds).

Children's total blindness as a risk factor for early parent-child relationships: preliminary findings from an Italian sample.

Background: Vision provides crucial information for parent-child attunement that scaffolds social development from the first months of life. Congenital blindness might affect both parental wellbeing and children's behavior during parent-child interaction. In this study, we compared families of young children with total versus partial blindness to understand the link between residual vision, parenting stress and perceived social support, and children's behavior during parent-child interaction.

Qualitative differences in the spatiotemporal brain states supporting configural face processing emerge in adolescence in autism.

Background: Studying the neural processing of faces can illuminate the mechanisms of compromised social expertise in autism. To resolve a longstanding debate, we examined whether differences in configural face processing in autism are underpinned by quantitative differences in the activation of typical face processing pathways, or the recruitment of non-typical neural systems.

Methods: We investigated spatial and temporal characteristics of event-related EEG responses to upright and inverted faces in a large sample of children, adolescents, and adults with and without autism.

Face Processing in Early Development: A Systematic Review of Behavioral Studies and Considerations in Times of COVID-19 Pandemic.

Human faces are one of the most prominent stimuli in the visual environment of young infants and convey critical information for the development of social cognition. During the COVID-19 pandemic, mask wearing has become a common practice outside the home environment. With masks covering nose and mouth regions, the facial cues available to the infant are impoverished.

Development of the pupillary light reflex from 9 to 24 months: association with common autism spectrum disorder (ASD) genetic liability and 3-year ASD diagnosis.

Background: Although autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is heritable, the mechanisms through which genes contribute to symptom emergence remain unclear. Investigating candidate intermediate phenotypes such as the pupillary light reflex (PLR) prospectively from early in development could bridge genotype and behavioural phenotype.

Methods: Using eye tracking, we longitudinally measured the PLR at 9, 14 and 24 months in a sample of infants (N = 264) enriched for a family history of ASD; 27 infants received an ASD diagnosis at 3 years.

Association of Polygenic Liability for Autism With Face-Sensitive Cortical Responses From Infancy.

This cohort study investigates whether N290 latency to faces vs nonfaces is associated with autism polygenic scores and cross-disorder polygenic scores in infants with and without a family history of autism.

Attentive brain states in infants with and without later autism.

Early difficulties in engaging attentive brain states in social settings could affect learning and have cascading effects on social development. We investigated this possibility using multichannel electroencephalography during a face/non-face paradigm in 8-month-old infants with (FH, n = 91) and without (noFH, n = 40) a family history of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). An event-related potential component reflecting attention engagement, the Nc, was compared between FH infants who received a diagnosis of ASD at 3 years of age (FH-ASD; n = 19), FH infants who did not (FH-noASD; n = 72) and noFH infants (who also did not, hereafter noFH-noASD; n = 40).

Look duration at the face as a developmental endophenotype: elucidating pathways to autism and ADHD.

Identifying developmental endophenotypes on the pathway between genetics and behavior is critical to uncovering the mechanisms underlying neurodevelopmental conditions. In this proof-of-principle study, we explored whether early disruptions in visual attention are a unique or shared candidate endophenotype of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We calculated the duration of the longest look (i.

Social attention: What is it, how can we measure it, and what can it tell us about autism and ADHD?

Neurodevelopmental disorders like autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affect 2-10% of children worldwide but are still poorly understood. Prospective studies of infants with an elevated familial likelihood of ASD or ADHD can provide insight into early mechanisms that canalize development down a typical or atypical course. Such work holds potential for earlier identification and intervention to support optimal outcomes in individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders.

Leveraging epigenetics to examine differences in developmental trajectories of social attention: A proof-of-principle study of DNA methylation in infants with older siblings with autism.

Preliminary evidence suggests that changes in DNA methylation, a widely studied epigenetic mechanism, contribute to the etiology of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, data is primarily derived from post-mortem brain samples or peripheral tissue from adults. Deep-phenotyped longitudinal infant cohorts are essential to understand how epigenetic modifications relate to early developmental trajectories and emergence of ASD symptoms.