Infant Perception Research Articles

Postpartum sleep health in a multiethnic cohort of women during the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City

Objective/DesignCross-sectional study to examine the determinants of sleep health among postpartum women during the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City (NYC). Setting/ParticipantsA subset of participants recruited as part of the COVID-19 Mother Baby Outcomes (COMBO) cohort at Columbia University (N = 62 non-Hispanic White, N = 17 African American, N = 107 Hispanic). MeasurementsData on maternal sleep, COVID-19 infection during pregnancy, sociodemographic, behavioral, and psychological factors were collected via questionnaire at 4 months postpartum. Self-reported subjective sleep quality, latency, duration, efficiency, disturbances, and daytime dysfunction were examined as categorical variables (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI]). Associations between sleep variables and COVID-19 status, time of the pandemic, sociodemographic, behavioral, and psychological factors were estimated via independent multivariable regressions. ResultsMothers who delivered between May-December 2020, who delivered after the NYC COVID-19 peak, experienced worse sleep latency, disturbances and global sleep health compared to those who delivered March-April 2020, the peak of the pandemic. Maternal depression, stress and COVID-19-related post-traumatic stress were associated with all sleep domains except for sleep efficiency. Maternal perception of infant's sleep as a problem was associated with worse global PSQI score, subjective sleep quality, duration, and efficiency. Compared to non-Hispanic White, Hispanic mothers reported worse global PSQI scores, sleep latency, duration and efficiency, but less daytime dysfunction. ConclusionsThese findings provide crucial information about sociodemographic, behavioral, and psychological factors contributing to sleep health in the postpartum period.

Modeling Unsupervised Empirical Adaptation by DPGMM and DPGMM-RNN Hybrid Model to Extract Perceptual Features for Low-Resource ASR

Speech feature extraction is critical for ASR systems. Such successful features as MFCC and PLP use filterbank techniques to model log-scaled speech perception but fail to model the adaptation of human speech perception by hearing experiences. Infant perception that is adapted by hearing speech without text may cause permanent brain state modifications (engrams) that serve as a physical fundamental basis for lifetime speech perception formation. This realization motivates us to propose to model such an unsupervised adaptation process, where adaptation denotes perception that is affected or changed by the history of experiences, with the Dirichlet Process Gaussian Mixture Model (DPGMM) and the DPGMM-RNN hybrid model to extract perceptual features to improve ASR. Our proposed features extend MFCC features with posteriorgrams extracted from the DPGMM algorithm or the DPGMM-RNN hybrid model. Our analysis shows that the DPGMM and DPGMM-RNN model perplexities agree with infant auditory perplexity to support that the proposed features are perceptual. Our ASR results verify the effectiveness of the proposed unsupervised features in such tasks as LVCSR on WSJ and ASR on noisy low-resource telephone conversations, compared with the supervised bottleneck features from Kaldi in ASR performance.

Child Sleep Problems Affect Mothers and Fathers Differently: How Infant and Young Child Sleep Affects Paternal and Maternal Sleep Quality, Emotion Regulation, and Sleep-Related Cognitions.

PurposeProblems in infant and young child sleep can represent a serious challenge to parental behavior of mother and father. However, most research about the effect of infant and young child sleep on parenting has focused on mothers. Therefore, the present study aimed to explore the perception and consequences of infant and young child sleep problems of both parents.Participants and MethodsParticipants were recruited via random sampling at, eg, kindergartens in North Rhine Westphalia. The sample includes data of heterosexual German-speaking couples with children without any medical or psychopathological problems. For this study, parents were asked to complete the test battery with regard to their youngest child. As sampling was via the kindergarten, the range of child age was 4–68 months. A survey assessed data of parents (N=196, 46% female). The test battery contained the following questionnaires: Children Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Self-Report Measure for the Assessment of Emotion Regulation Skills (SEK-27), and a German version of the Infant Sleep Vignettes Interpretation Scale (ISVIS). For the outcome variables of parental sleep as well as for parental emotional competence, the statistical tests of ANOVA were used, and for parental sleep-related cognitions with the grouping variables of infant and young child sleep as well as parental gender, a MANOVA was used. According to the analysis of group differences, the age of the child was also included additional to the grouping variable of parental gender and children’s sleep.ResultsMothers and fathers in this sample were equally aware of their children’s sleep problems and reported similar sleep quality and emotion regulation themselves (all p > 0.05). Mothers as well as fathers of children with sleep problems had lower parental sleep quality (F(1, 183) = 110.01, p < 0.001) and emotion regulation (F(1, 184) = 143.16, p < 0.001) compared to parents of children without sleep problems. In children under 26 months of age, the child’s age seemed to have less negative impact on the father’s sleep quality (F(1, 183) = 5.01, p < 0.001) and emotion regulation (F(1, 184) = 0.72, p < 0.05) than on the outcomes of the mother. With regard to sleep-related cognition, there were statistically significant effects of parental gender (F(2, 185) = 44.39, p < 0.001) and interaction effects of parental gender × child sleep problems observed (F(2, 185) = 31.91, p < 0.001).ConclusionThe conclusion from this survey refers to the role of the father. According to the results, an association between paternal emotional competence, sleep quality as well as their sleep-related cognitions and infants and toddlers sleep behavior could be assumed in addition to and independent of the results of mothers. We would highlight the urgent need of inclusion of fathers in infant and developmental sleep research. In the context of sleep intervention, both parents should be provided with ongoing support to improve their sleep quality and competence in emotion regulation.

Setting the Stage for Speech Production: Infants Prefer Listening to Speech Sounds With Infant Vocal Resonances.

Current models of speech development argue for an early link between speech production and perception in infants. Recent data show that young infants (at 4-6 months) preferentially attend to speech sounds (vowels) with infant vocal properties compared to those with adult vocal properties, suggesting the presence of special "memory banks" for one's own nascent speech-like productions. This study investigated whether the vocal resonances (formants) of the infant vocal tract are sufficient to elicit this preference and whether this perceptual bias changes with age and emerging vocal production skills. We selectively manipulated the fundamental frequency (f0 ) of vowels synthesized with formants specifying either an infant or adult vocal tract, and then tested the effects of those manipulations on the listening preferences of infants who were slightly older than those previously tested (at 6-8 months). Unlike findings with younger infants (at 4-6 months), slightly older infants in Experiment 1 displayed a robust preference for vowels with infant formants over adult formants when f0 was matched. The strength of this preference was also positively correlated with age among infants between 4 and 8 months. In Experiment 2, this preference favoring infant over adult formants was maintained when f0 values were modulated. Infants between 6 and 8 months of age displayed a robust and distinct preference for speech with resonances specifying a vocal tract that is similar in size and length to their own. This finding, together with data indicating that this preference is not present in younger infants and appears to increase with age, suggests that nascent knowledge of the motor schema of the vocal tract may play a role in shaping this perceptual bias, lending support to current models of speech development. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.17131805.

İşitme cihazı kullanıcısı bebeklerin görsel pekiştirmeli konuşmayı ayırt etme yöntemi ile değerlendirilmesi: Olgu serisi

Evaluation of babies with hearing aids using visual reinforced ınfant speech discrimination method: A case series Speech perception measurements are an important part of the audiology test battery. It is important to investigate hearing loss in the early period and to evaluate the auditory pathway in terms of speech perception for appropriate amplification. Due to the level of language development in infants, it is not possible to objectively evaluate speech perception skills with the speech test battery used in adults. It is necessary to use a test battery that gives objective results for the measurement of speech perception in infants. Visual Reinforcement Infant Speech Discrimination (VRISD) method is the most commonly used test technique to evaluate speech discrimination skills in infants. The aim of this study is to evaluate the speech discrimination skills of 3 babies aged 6-18 months, who are hearing aid users, with the VRISD test method. In the VRISD test protocol used in this study, test stimuli were created by matching /a/ with /i/ and /ba/ with /da/ speech stimuli. These stimulus pairs are arranged as one target sound and the other background sound, and they are presented at 70 dB via loudspeaker by creating a repeating sound sequence. Animated video that attracts the attention of the baby was used as visual reinforcement. Speech discrimination skills of 3 babies with bilateral hearing aids were evaluated with the VRISD test, and the results of the cases are presented. As a result of the study, speech discrimination skills of babies with hearing aids will be evaluated with the VRISD test method. These results contribute to habilitation and amplification programming. Keywords: Hearing aid, speech perception, pediatric audiology

Mother's engagement with infant linked to infant's responding to threat

AbstractThe early development of threat perception in infancy might be dependent on caregiver context, but this link has not yet been studied in human infants. This study examined the emergence of the young infant's response to threat in the context of variations in caregiving behavior. Eighty infant‐caregiver dyads (39 female infants, all of western European descent) visited the laboratory when the infant was 5 months old. Each dyad completed a free‐play task, from which we coded for the mother's level of engagement: the amount of talking, close proximity, positive affect, and attention directed toward the infant. When the infant was 7 months old, they came back to the laboratory and we used functional near infrared spectroscopy and eye tracking to measure infants’ neural and attentional responses to threatening angry faces. In response to threat, infants of more‐engaged mothers showed increased brain responses in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex—a brain region associated with emotion regulation and cognitive control among adults—and reduced attentional avoidance. These results point to a role for caregiver behavioral context in the early development of brain systems involved in human threat responding.

Learning Jazz Language by Aural Imitation: A Usage-Based Communicative Jazz Theory (Part 1)

AbstractHow can imitation lead to free musical expression? This article explores the role of auditory imitation in jazz. Even though many renowned jazz musicians have assessed the method of imitating recorded music, no systematic study has hitherto explored how the method prepares for aural jazz improvisation. The article picks up an assumption presented by Berliner (1994), suggesting that learning jazz by aural imitation is “just like” learning a mother tongue. The article studies three potential stages in the method, comparing with imitative, rhythmic, multimodal, and protosymbolic behavior of infant perception (building on the works of Stern, Trevarthen, and Merleau-Ponty). The demonstrations of the aural-imitation method draw on pedagogic experiences accumulated since 1979 in the Jazz Program at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. By analyzing structures of behavior suggested by the method, the article indicates key traits that render aural jazz improvisation possible, such as a fundamental sense of rhythm, formation of symbolic behavior, joint musical attention, and the facility to “hear via the other.” In conclusion, we critically address a frequent theoretical model describing musical improvisation as a synthesis of discrete elements or building blocks.

An office-based fix-and-follow grading system assessing visual function in preverbal children

BackgroundAssessing visual function in infants is usually challenging. Fix-and-Follow is a simple and popular method for assessing early development of visual perception in infants, currently however, there is no formal reproducible method for grading the capacity of fix-and-follow. This study was to develop and validate a new fix-and-follow grading system for assessing visual function development in preverbal children.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, the fix-and-follow grades was evaluated in 21 consecutive preverbal children. Fixation was categorised as grade 1 if there was no response to the target and grade 2 if there was a response but only for < 3 s. Grades of 3 and 4 were assigned based capacities to (1) fix on a moving target for ≥3 s, and (2) shift fixation from one target to another. If only one of these two criteria was met, grade 3 was assigned. If both were met, grade 4 was assigned. Following was evaluated using smooth pursuit movement, where grade 1 indicated no movement, grade 2 partial movement, and grade 3 complete movement. Two ophthalmologists independently applied the grading method in all patients. Then one of two examiners repeated the examinations to investigate the intra-observer agreement of the grading system.ResultsIntra-observer agreement was excellent (Kappa coefficient = 0.823) and inter-observer agreement was good (Kappa coefficient = 0.625). All patients who exhibited abnormal ocular movement had score discrepancy between a new fix-and-following grading examination.ConclusionsThe new fix-and-follow grading scale can be applied easily in preverbal children in an office setting, and it proved reliable and reproducible.

Parenthood in the shadow of COVID-19: The contribution of gender, personal resources and anxiety to first time parents' perceptions of the infant.

We sought to examine new parents' perceptions of their infant during the worldwide spread of COVID‐19, exploring the contribution of gender, personal resources (attachment orientation, presence of meaning in life and intolerance of uncertainty) and COVID‐19‐related anxieties. A convenience sample of 606 Israeli first‐time parents (137 fathers and 469 mothers), whose child was 3–12 months old, was recruited through social media during April 2020. Findings indicate that being a woman, younger age, lower education, better physical health, older infant's age, lower attachment anxiety, higher presence of meaning in life and greater COVID‐19‐related anxiety over the infant's health contributed significantly to a greater perception of infant's warmth; being a father, higher education and economic status, poorer physical health, higher attachment anxiety and intolerance of uncertainty and less presence of meaning in life contributed significantly to a greater perception of infant's invasiveness. Gender moderated the associations between the personal resources and infant's perception, and both the presence of meaning in life and intolerance of uncertainty mediated the associations between COVID‐19‐related anxieties and parent's perception of the infant. The findings reveal the crucial contribution of gender, and both risk and resilience factors, to the parent's perception of the infant in the shadow of COVID‐19.

Accelerated epigenetic aging at birth interacts with parenting hostility to predict child temperament and subsequent psychological symptoms.

In an effort to elucidate new factors that may contribute to developmental psychopathology, the current study examined whether accelerated epigenetic aging at birth related to children's differential susceptibility to the effects of aversive parenting on early emerging mental health risk. Using data from a multiethnic birth cohort, the interaction between Horvath's methylation age in umbilical cord blood and hostile parenting behaviors was examined in relation to perceptions of infant's temperament at 6 months and to children's psychological symptoms at 3 years in 154 families. Results broadly revealed that children with higher levels of accelerated methylation aging evinced more unpredictable temperaments and more psychological symptoms if their mothers reported more hostile parenting, but showed fewer difficulties if mothers engaged in less hostile parenting; children with lower levels of accelerated methylation age did not show associations between hostility and temperament or psychological symptoms. Effects were not accounted for by gestational age at birth, demographic factors, or the distribution of cell subtypes. These findings suggest that accelerated epigenetic age may function as a form of differential susceptibility, signaling increased risk for psychopathology in more aversive contexts but decreased risk in less aversive early environments. Taken together, they point to a novel biological process to consider within risk for psychopathology.

Olfaction in the Multisensory Processing of Faces: A Narrative Review of the Influence of Human Body Odors.

A recent body of research has emerged regarding the interactions between olfaction and other sensory channels to process social information. The current review examines the influence of body odors on face perception, a core component of human social cognition. First, we review studies reporting how body odors interact with the perception of invariant facial information (i.e., identity, sex, attractiveness, trustworthiness, and dominance). Although we mainly focus on the influence of body odors based on axillary odor, we also review findings about specific steroids present in axillary sweat (i.e., androstenone, androstenol, androstadienone, and estratetraenol). We next survey the literature showing body odor influences on the perception of transient face properties, notably in discussing the role of body odors in facilitating or hindering the perception of emotional facial expression, in relation to competing frameworks of emotions. Finally, we discuss the developmental origins of these olfaction-to-vision influences, as an emerging literature indicates that odor cues strongly influence face perception in infants. Body odors with a high social relevance such as the odor emanating from the mother have a widespread influence on various aspects of face perception in infancy, including categorization of faces among other objects, face scanning behavior, or facial expression perception. We conclude by suggesting that the weight of olfaction might be especially strong in infancy, shaping social perception, especially in slow-maturing senses such as vision, and that this early tutoring function of olfaction spans all developmental stages to disambiguate a complex social environment by conveying key information for social interactions until adulthood.

Doğum şeklinin ebeveynlik davranışı, yenidoğanı algılama ve maternal bağlanma üzerindeki etkisi

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate and compare the effect of birth type on parenting behaviors, infant perception and maternal attachment.&#x0D; Materials and Methods: This descriptive and comparative study was conducted with 77 primipara mothers (vaginal birth: 48, cesarean section: 29). The data were collected in three follow-ups using the Individual Presentation Form, Postpartum Parenting Behavior Scale (PPBS), Neonatal Perception Scale (NPS) and Maternal Attachment Scale (MAS). The first follow-up was performed by observation in the birth room/operating room, and the second follow-up was carried out by face to face interview in the obstetrics clinic 24 hours after the birth and the third follow-up was conducted as reaching by telephone one month after the birth.&#x0D; Results: In the study, no statistically meaningful difference was found between the mean scores of PPBS, MAS and infant perception regarding the birth type. No correlation was found between the PPBS and MAS mean scores in both groups, and no difference between the mean scores of PPBS and MAS was found regarding their infant perception.&#x0D; Conclusion: As the cesarean delivery rates increases, nursing care given to women that give cesarean section increases. Some mothers may be anxious and upset about maternal attachment, parenting, and newborn because of cesarean delivery. Therefore, nurses should support these mothers by expressing that there is no difference between parental behavior, maternal attachment levels and newborn perception according to the type of delivery in addition to standard care.

Relationship between Behavioral Infant Speech Perception and Hearing Age for Children with Hearing Loss.

(1) Background: Research has demonstrated that early intervention for children who are hard-of-hearing (CHH) facilitates improved language development. Early speech perception abilities may impact CHH outcomes and guide future intervention. The objective of this study was to examine the use of a conditioned head turn (CHT) task as a measure of speech discrimination in CHH using a clinically feasible protocol. (2) Methods: Speech perception was assessed for a consonant and vowel contrast among 57 CHH and 70 children with normal hearing (CNH) aged 5–17 months using a CHT paradigm. (3) Results: Regardless of hearing status, 74% of CHH and 77% of CNH could discriminate /a-i/, and 55% of CHH and 56% of CNH could discriminate /ba-da/. Regression models revealed that both CHH and CNH performed better on /ba-da/ at 70 dBA compared to 50 dBA. Performance by hearing age showed no speech perception differences for CNH and children with mild hearing loss for either contrast. However, children with hearing losses ≥ 41 dB HL performed significantly poorer than CNH for /a-i/. (4) Conclusions: This study demonstrates the clinical feasibility of assessing early speech perception in infants with hearing loss and replicates previous findings of speech perception abilities among CHH and CNH.

Nurses' perceptions of infants’ procedural pain assessment and alleviation with non-pharmacological methods in Estonia

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to describe nurses perceptions of infants' procedural pain assessment and alleviation with non-pharmacological methods including parental guidance in departments of neonatal and infant medicine and Neonatal Intensive Care (NICUs). Design and methodsA descriptive cross-sectional survey was carried out among all nurses (n= 149) who were working in neonatal and infant departments or NICUs in Estonian hospitals. Altogether, 128 questionnaires were returned and 111 respondents were eligible (75% response rate). The data were analysed using statistical methods. ResultsMore than half of the nurses agreed that systematic documentation of the measurement of pain is necessary for nursing care and that it affects pain alleviation in infants. Half of the respondents (51%) confirmed that pain scales are important in the measurement of infants' pain, but 58% claimed they were able to assess pain in a reliable way without using pain assessment scales. Nurses also reported that they were unfamiliar with most pain scales and they were not routinely used in everyday practice. Nurses said that the most useful non-pharmacological pain alleviation methods were touching (83%) and positioning infants (78%), the most rarely used were skin-to-skin care (12%) and encouraging mothers to breastfeed the infant (34%). The majority of respondents (79%) reported that they do not know or do not have written instructions on pain assessment in their workplace, and only a few (10%) reported that they have participated in pain management courses during the last year. ConclusionsThere is a need to increase the use of pain assessment scales and pain documentation in everyday practice in those hospitals in Estonia. The use of scales in pain assessment was valued by few nurses. It seems that there is a lack of knowledge on non-pharmacological methods, and nurses reported using only a few non-pharmacological pain alleviation methods and guided parents on using them. Practice implicationsNurses need pain management guidelines for everyday work, and in addition to nurses, written guidelines for parents are needed.

Infant eating behaviors and Milk feeding independently predict infant size.

This study investigates the association of infant eating behaviors with infant size, and if those associations are mediated by infant feeding. Mothers with infants less than 12 months of age and living in Central North Carolina were enrolled (N=61). Data were collected at baseline and at 3- and 6-month follow up visits. Modified constructs from the Baby Eating Behavior Questionnaire (BEBQ) and Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ) measured parents' perceptions of infant eating behaviors related to food approach (enjoyment of food, and food responsiveness) and food avoidance (food fussiness, satiety responsiveness, and slowness in eating). Linear mixed effects models tested longitudinal associations among infant eating behavior ratings, infant feeding (breastfeeding intensity, timing of introduction of complementary foods), and anthropometry (weight, length, and weight-for-length z-scores). Path analyses were stratified by age and tested for direct and indirect effects of mothers' ratings of infant eating behaviors and infant feeding on infant anthropometry. Linear mixed models showed that general appetite was associated with higher weight-for-age, and satiety responsiveness was associated with lower length-for-age. Path analyses showed that infant milk feeding did not mediate associations. Breastfeeding intensity was independently associated with lower weight- and length-for-age z-scores. Age at complementary feeding initiation was associated with lower length-for-age z-scores. Associations between parental perceptions of general appetite, satiety responsiveness, and infant weight and length are observed early in life. These findings suggest that parental perceptions of infant eating behaviors may contribute to the early developmental programming of later health outcomes.

Perception, Action, and Intrinsic Motivation in Infants’ Motor-Skill Development

Perception, action, and intrinsic motivation play an essential role in early development, promoting the creation and refinement of new and more complex forms of behaviors as infants try a range of sensorimotor patterns in their environment. I use the example of infants’ reaching to illustrate how goal-directed action emerges from the intersection of seemingly distinct visual and proprioceptive-tactile-motor spaces that form in the early months following birth. The intersection of these two spaces begins with a casual contingent event involving vision and action: when the hand happens to contact a target. This event, which marks the onset of reaching, provides new behavioral value, reinforces the motor action, and intrinsically motivates infants to attempt to reproduce the behavior. Subsequent repeated cycles of perception and action lead to the exploration of a range of motor responses and a progressive alignment of the visual space with the proprioceptive-tactile-motor space, ultimately fostering the selection and refinement of increasingly successful and refined reaching patterns. Extensive hands-on experience in the environment and learning about the immediate outcomes of actions play a critical role in shaping behavioral development.

Infant perception of causal motion produced by humans and inanimate objects

Both the movements of people and inanimate objects are intimately bound up with physical causality. Furthermore, in contrast to object movements, causal relationships between limb movements controlled by humans and their body displacements uniquely reflect agency and goal-directed actions in support of social causality. To investigate the development of sensitivity to causal movements, we examined the looking behavior of infants between 9 and 18 months of age when viewing movements of humans and objects. We also investigated whether individual differences in gender and gross motor functions may impact the development of the visual preferences for causal movements. In Experiment 1, infants were presented with walking stimuli showing either normal body translation or a “moonwalk” that reversed the horizontal motion of body translations. In Experiment 2, infants were presented with unperformable actions beyond infants’ gross motor functions (i.e., long jump) either with or without ecologically valid body displacement. In Experiment 3, infants were presented with rolling movements of inanimate objects that either complied with or violated physical causality. We found that female infants showed longer looking times to normal walking stimuli than to moonwalk stimuli, but did not differ in their looking time to movements of inanimate objects and unperformable actions. In contrast, male infants did not show sensitivity to causal movement for either category. Additionally, female infants looked longer at social stimuli of human actions than male infants. Under the tested circumstances, our findings indicate that female infants have developed a sensitivity to causal consistency between limb movements and body translations of biological motion, only for actions with previous visual and motor exposures, and demonstrate a preference toward social information.

Speaker Abstracts Plenary Lectures (PL) PL1. Face Perception in Infants Using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS)

We have been studying the underlying mechanisms of face perception in humans using magneto-(MEG), electroencephalography (EEG) and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). In this lecture, I will mainly focus on the development of face perception in infants. NIRS is a spectroscopic method using the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum (from 780 nm to 2500 nm). The biggest advantages of NIRS compared with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) are as follows: (1) NIRS can be used when subjects are moving, for example, during walking and cooking. Therefore, NIRS can be used to measure brain activity of infants and children who cannot help moving; (2) It is much cheaper. We recently made a special light probe of NIRS for studying infants. I will mainly introduce our basic studies of face perception in infants using NIRS. In addition, I will introduce our latest clinical studies in patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and anorexia nervosa.

A qualitative analysis of factors influencing infant and young children feeding perceptions and practices, of working mothers, in London Borough of Ealing

Introduction: Optimum infant feeding practices, during the first 1000 days of life, are essential for children's health and development. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends putting the infant to the breast within the first hour of life, and exclusively breastfeeding for six months. If every infant was exclusively breastfed 823,000 infant deaths could be avoided annually. Despite this fact only 41% of infants worldwide are exclusively breastfed. The Global Nutrition Target 5 seeks to increase this figure to 50% by 2025. In the UK, although there is widespread knowledge on the benefits of breastfeeding, with 81% mothers initiating breastfeeding, only 24% are exclusively breastfeeding at 6 weeks. By six months only 1% of mothers are still exclusively breastfeeding. This is the lowest rate in Europe. This research aimed to explore the infant feeding practices and perceptions of a small group of working mothers, with children under the age of five, in the London Borough of Ealing.&#x0D; Methodology: This study applied a qualitative methodology to gain a deeper understanding of factors influencing infant and young child feeding practices in a small group of working women. Two gatekeepers were used to recruit 14 participants through a mixture of convenience and snowball sampling. All mothers included were working and living in the Ealing Borough of London with children under five. Methods utilised for data collection included online interviews and open-ended surveys. Data were analysed using an inductive thematic approach, identifying four themes and eleven sub themes from the participants.&#x0D; Results: The study identified that mothers sought information on infant feeding from online sources, printed books, family and friends, and educational classes. However, most mothers expressed the need to have more information on different feeding methods and childbirth in general. Mothers highlighted that the main factors influencing their decision on how to feed their baby included the need to develop a strong connection with their baby, nutritional benefits for the infant and general knowledge about the benefits of breastfeeding. Most participants reported that they started breastfeeding at birth. Six mothers exclusively breastfed their baby until six months, followed by the introduction of complementary foods. Three of these mothers continued to breastfeed until nine months. Five mothers started formula feeding within two months due to personal challenges such as lack of support, perceived lack of milk supply and anatomical challenges such as tongue-tied infants. Mothers did not find work as a major barrier to breastfeeding.&#x0D; Conclusions: Increased information and support on all aspects of infant feeding could help the UK achieve their 2025 target. The timing of complementary feeding and clear advice on where to seek nutrition support could be included in an English Infant Feeding Strategy, like the strategy implemented in Scotland. More discussion on the small size of an infant’s stomach could reduce early breastfeeding cessation due to perceptions around lack of milk.

Neurophysiological Correlates of Asymmetries in Vowel Perception: An English-French Cross-Linguistic Event-Related Potential Study.

Behavioral studies examining vowel perception in infancy indicate that, for many vowel contrasts, the ease of discrimination changes depending on the order of stimulus presentation, regardless of the language from which the contrast is drawn and the ambient language that infants have experienced. By adulthood, linguistic experience has altered vowel perception; analogous asymmetries are observed for non−native contrasts but are mitigated for native contrasts. Although these directional effects are well documented behaviorally, the brain mechanisms underlying them are poorly understood. In the present study we begin to address this gap. We first review recent behavioral work which shows that vowel perception asymmetries derive from phonetic encoding strategies, rather than general auditory processes. Two existing theoretical models–the Natural Referent Vowel framework and the Native Language Magnet model–are invoked as a means of interpreting these findings. Then we present the results of a neurophysiological study which builds on this prior work. Using event-related brain potentials, we first measured and assessed the mismatch negativity response (MMN, a passive neurophysiological index of auditory change detection) in English and French native-speaking adults to synthetic vowels that either spanned two different phonetic categories (/y/vs./u/) or fell within the same category (/u/). Stimulus presentation was organized such that each vowel was presented as standard and as deviant in different blocks. The vowels were presented with a long (1,600-ms) inter-stimulus interval to restrict access to short-term memory traces and tap into a “phonetic mode” of processing. MMN analyses revealed weak asymmetry effects regardless of the (i) vowel contrast, (ii) language group, and (iii) MMN time window. Then, we conducted time-frequency analyses of the standard epochs for each vowel. In contrast to the MMN analysis, time-frequency analysis revealed significant differences in brain oscillations in the theta band (4–8 Hz), which have been linked to attention and processing efficiency. Collectively, these findings suggest that early-latency (pre-attentive) mismatch responses may not be a strong neurophysiological correlate of asymmetric behavioral vowel discrimination. Rather, asymmetries may reflect differences in neural processing efficiency for vowels with certain inherent acoustic-phonetic properties, as revealed by theta oscillatory activity.