Neural Correlates of Human and Monkey Face Processing in 9-Month-Old Infants.

Abstract

Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence suggests a gradual, experience-dependent specialization of cortical face processing systems that take place largely in the first year of life. To further investigate these findings, event-related potentials (ERPs) were collected from typically developing 9-month-old infants presented with pictures of familiar and unfamiliar monkey or human faces in two different orientations. Analyses revealed differential processing across changes in monkey and human faces. The N290 was greater for familiar compared to unfamiliar faces, regardless of species or orientation. In contrast, the P400 to unfamiliar faces was greater than to familiar faces, but only for the monkey condition. The P400 to human faces differentiated the orientation of both familiar and unfamiliar faces. These results suggest more specific processing of human compared to monkey faces in 9-month-olds.