Infant EEG microstate dynamics relate to fine- grained patterns of infant attention during naturalistic play with caregivers

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Bagdasarov, Armen; Markert, Sarah; Gaffrey, Michael S.
• 署名单位: Duke University; Children's Hospital of Wisconsin; Medical College of Wisconsin
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-10588
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2414636122
• 发表日期: 2025-03-13
• 关键词: mounted eye tracking; sustained attention; visual-attention; social origins; brain; Synchronization; architecture; inhibition; networks; science

摘要

As infants grow, they develop greater attentional control during interactions with others, shifting from patterns of attention primarily driven by caregivers (exogenous) to those that are also self- directed (endogenous). The ability to endogenously control attention during infancy is thought to reflect ongoing brain development and is influenced by patterns of joint attention between infant and caregiver. However, whether measures of infant attentional control and caregiver behavior during infant-caregiver interactions relate to patterns of infant brain activity is unknown and key for informing developmental models of attentional control. Using data from 43 infant-caregiver dyads, we quantified patterns of visual attention with dyadic, head- mounted eye tracking during infant-caregiver play and associated them with the duration of infant EEG microstate D/4 measured during rest. Importantly, microstate D/4 is a scalp potential topography thought to reflect the organization and function of attention- related brain networks. We found that microstate D/4 associated positively with infant- led joint attention rate but did not associate with caregiver- led joint attention rate, suggesting that infant- led coordination of joint attention during play may be critical for the neurobiological development of attentional control, or vice versa. Further, we found that microstate D/4 associated negatively with infant attention shift rate and positively with infant sustained attention duration, suggesting that increased stability of microstate D/4 may reflect maturation of attentional control and its underlying neural substrates. Together, our findings provide insights into how infant attentional control abilities and infant-caregiver visual behavior during play are associated with the spatial and temporal dynamics of infant brain activity.