Abstract
Our brains are active while we learn, work, and even play! We wanted to find out what parts of the brain kids use when they play with dolls. Because pretend play with dolls might involve imagining how other people act and feel, we thought that the areas of the brain used for thinking about other people might be particularly important during doll play. If this is true, do kids use these parts of the brain in all types of pretend play or is there something special about playing with dolls? Are the brain regions that are important for thinking about other people used in the same way when playing with an iPad vs. with dolls? Do kids use the social parts of their brains when playing pretend on their own, or only with a friend? Let us talk about what we found!
Highlights
The posterior superior temporal sulcus is the area of the brain that is associated with developing social understanding and empathy
POSTERIOR SUPERIOR TEMPORAL SULCUS (PSTS) A part of the brain associated with developing social understanding and empathy
Our results showed that when children are playing with someone else, the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) is activated to a very similar degree, regardless of whether they are playing with dolls or with a tablet
Summary
To see which areas of the brain were active during pretend play, we used a technique called functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). By shining a special kind of light, called near-infrared light, through the skin, bone, and brain, this cap can detect which parts of the brain are being used (Figure ). This may sound scary, near-infrared light is much like the other types of light that we experience in our daily lives and is perfectly safe and painless. FNIRS was a good technique to choose for our study, because it does not require the person being studied to hold still for brain activity to be measured This was helpful, because it allowed us to see what was happening in the brain as kids moved around to talk and play with toys, the way they normally would [ ]. The y-axis shows the amount of oxygen in the blood flowing through the pSTS during the experiment
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