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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2024.03.14.585061

Parent attention-orienting behavior is associated with neural entropy in infancy

Williams, C. L.·Belkowitz, A. R.·Nance, M. G.·Mortman, E. T.·Bae, S.·Ahmed, S.-B.·Puglia, M. H.
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Abstract

Parents play a significant role in directing infants attention to environmental stimuli via joint attention. We hypothesized that infants whose parents provide more bids for joint attention will display a more complex neural response when viewing social scenes. Sixty-one 8-month-old infants underwent electroencephalography (EEG) while viewing videos of joint-and parallel-play and participated in a parent-infant free play interaction. EEG data was analyzed using multiscale entropy, which quantifies moment-to-moment neural variability. Free play interactions were coded for parent alternating gaze, a behavioral mechanism for directing attention to environmental cues. We found a significant positive association between parent alternating gaze and neural entropy in frontal and central brain regions. These results suggest a relationship between parent behavior and infant neural mechanisms that regulate social attention, underlying the importance of parent cues in the formation of neural networks in infancy.

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Williams, C. L., Belkowitz, A. R., Nance, M. G., Mortman, E. T., Bae, S., Ahmed, S.-B., Puglia, M. H.. 2024-03-18. Parent attention-orienting behavior is associated with neural entropy in infancy. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.03.14.585061

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