Correlation of infants' brain and behavior response to temporal changes in visual stimulation.

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis research was designed to test the hypothesis that a direct, parametric relationship exists between infant attention and the occipital visual evoked potential (VEP) induced by temporal frequency of visual pattern stimulation. Infants (13‐weeks‐old; N=32) were shown identical checkerboard patterns modulated at different rates of temporal change in a paired‐comparison design and durations of orienting responses were measured. Another group of infants (13‐weeks‐old; N=14) were shown a series of checkerboard patterns, each modulated at a different temporal rate, and the midline occipital brain response was recorded. The results showed that behavioral attention and the signal strength/sec of the VEP are both significantly related to temporal frequency of stimulation. Furthermore, when plotted to the log2 of temporal rate, both behavioral and neurophysiological response functions were best described by inverted U‐shaped curves with similar maxima (4.8 Hz vs 5.8 Hz). These data taken together indicate that infants’visual attention and occipital brain response to temporal frequency covary and that a common neurophysiological mechanism may be involved.