A5079753085- Face Recognition and Perception
- Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Visual perception and processing mechanisms
- Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Child Development and Digital Technology
- Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Language Development and Disorders
- Family and Disability Support Research
- Visual Attention and Saliency Detection
- Multisensory perception and integration
- Face and Expression Recognition
- Neural dynamics and brain function
- Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Gaze Tracking and Assistive Technology
- Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies
- Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders
- Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies
- Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
- Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
- Child and Animal Learning Development
- Infant Health and Development
- Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
- Tactile and Sensory Interactions
- Primate Behavior and Ecology
Utrecht University
2015-2025
University Medical Center Utrecht
2019-2024
A problem in eyetracking research is choosing areas of interest (AOIs): Researchers the same field often use widely varying AOIs for similar stimuli, making cross-study comparisons difficult or even impossible. Subjective choices while cause differences AOI shape, size, and location. On other hand, not many guidelines constructing AOIs, between AOI-production methods, are available. In present study, we addressed this gap by comparing methods face using data collected with infants adults...
Perception of visual stimuli improves with training, but improvements are specific for trained rendering the development generic training programs challenging. It remains unknown to which extent low-level features transfers high-level perception, and whether this is accompanied by neuroplastic changes. The current Event-Related Potential study showed that training-induced increased sensitivity a feature, namely low spatial frequency (LSF), alters neural processing feature in stimuli....
During speech processing, neural activity in non-autistic adults and infants tracks the envelope. Recent research indicates that this tracking relates to linguistic knowledge may be reduced autism. Such tracking, if present already infancy, could impede language development. In current study, we focused on children with a family history of autism, who often show delay first acquisition. We investigated whether differences sung nursery rhymes during infancy relate development autism symptoms...
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects social communication skills and flexible behaviour. Developing new treatment approaches for ASD requires early identification of the factors influence later behavioural outcomes. One fruitful research paradigm has been prospective study infants with first degree relative ASD, who have around 20% likelihood developing themselves. Early findings identified range candidate neurocognitive markers such as delayed...
In response to Covid-19, western governments introduced policies that likely resulted in a reduced variety of facial input. This study investigated how this affected neural representations face processing: speed processing; categorization (differentiating faces from houses); and emotional processing happy, fearful, neutral expressions), infants (five or ten months old) children (three years old). We compared participants tested before (total N = 462) versus during 473) the pandemic-related...
Reliable measures are required to draw meaningful conclusions regarding developmental changes in longitudinal studies. Little is known, however, about the test-retest reliability of face-sensitive event related potentials (ERPs), a frequently used neural measure infants. The aim current study investigate ERPs typically evoked by faces 9–10 month-old infants (N=31) were presented with neutral, fearful and happy that contained only lower or higher spatial frequency information. They tested...
Visual form perception is essential for correct interpretation of, and interaction with, our environment. Form depends on visual acuity processing of specific characteristics, such as luminance contrast, spatial frequency, color, orientation, depth, even motion information. As other cognitive processes, matures with age. This paper aims at providing a concise overview current understanding the typical development, from birth to adulthood, form-characteristic processing, measured both...
Abstract Visual segmentation, a process in which elements are integrated into form and segregated from the background, is known to differ adults at infancy. The further developmental trajectory of this process, underlying brain mechanisms, during childhood adolescence unknown. aim study was investigate ERP reflections visual relate behavioural performance. One hundred eleven typically developing children 7 18 years age were divided six groups. Each child performed two tasks. In texture...
Abstract Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show atypical processing of facial expressions. Research autistic toddlers suggests that abnormalities in spatial frequencies (SFs) contribute to such differences. The current event-related-potential (ERP) study investigated differences between 10-month-old infants high- and low-likelihood for ASD SF discrimination fearful neutral faces, filtered contain specific SF. Results indicate no group general higher (HSF, detailed) lower-SF...
From infancy onwards, EEG is widely used to measure face-categorization, i.e. differential brain activity faces versus non-face stimuli. Four ERP components likely signal infants' face-sensitivity but reflect different underlying mechanisms: the P1, N290, P400, Nc. We test whether these reveal similar developmental patterns from early late infancy, using a longitudinal dataset of 80 infants tested at 5 and 10 months. The Nc show face-categorization already in 5-months-olds, pattern which did...
Social interaction starts with perception of other persons. One the first steps in is processing basic information such as spatial frequencies (SF), which represent details and global information. However, although behavioural SF well investigated, developmental trajectory temporal characteristics not yet understood. The speed this visual crucial, it determines possibly accuracy subsequent social processes. current study investigated changes selective high (HSF; details) versus low (LSF;...
The emotional availability scales (EAS), 4th edition, are widely used in research and clinical practice to assess the quality of parent–child interaction. This study examined short-term reliability continuity EAS (4th ed.) assessed two similar observational contexts over a one-week interval. Sixty-two Dutch parents (85% mothers) their 9- 12-month-old infants ( M age = 10.07 months, SD 0.47, 53% boys) were videotaped twice while they interacted with each other during several tasks (free play,...
Processing faces and understanding facial expressions is a crucial skill for social communication. In adults, basic face processing emotion rely on specific interacting brain networks. infancy, however, little known about when how these networks develop. The current study uses functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to measure differences in 5-month-olds' activity response fearful happy expressions. Our results show that the right occipital region responds faces, indicating network...
The assessment of the visual field in young children continues to be a challenge. Children often do not sit still, fail fixate stimuli for longer durations, and have limited verbal capacity report visibility. Therefore, we introduced head-mounted VR display with gazecontingent flicker pupil perimetry (VRgcFPP). We presented large flickering patches at different eccentricities angles periphery evoke pupillary oscillations, three fixation stimulus conditions determine best practices optimal...
Various studies have reported that parental self-regulation is inversely related to negative parenting practices, especially in relatively calm households. These focused on general tendencies of parents over longer periods time. In the current time-series study, we extended previous work by focusing moment-to-moment processes parent-child interactions may explain associations between self-regulation, household chaos, and practices. a sample 62 parent-toddler dyads (83.87% mothers), tested...
Abstract Emotional facial expressions are important visual communication signals that indicate a sender’s intent and emotional state to an observer. As such, it is not surprising reactions different thought be automatic independent of awareness. What surprising, studies show inconsistent results concerning such reactions, particularly when using face stimuli. We argue can better explained, understood, in terms quantitative descriptions their low-level image features rather than the content...
Gaze direction is an important social communication tool. Global and local visual information are known to play specific roles in processing socially relevant from a face. The current study investigated whether global has primary role during gaze-cued orienting of attention and, as such, may influence quality interaction. Adults performed gaze-cueing task which centrally presented face cued (valid or invalid) the location peripheral target through gaze shift. We measured brain activity...
Social interaction starts with perception of the world around you. This study investigated two fundamental issues regarding development discrimination higher spatial frequencies, which are important building blocks perception. Firstly, it mapped typical developmental trajectory frequency discrimination. Secondly, developed and validated a novel design that could be applied to improve atypically vision. Specifically, this examined effect age reward on task performance, practice effects,...
During speech processing, neural activity in non-autistic adults and infants tracks the envelope. Recent research indicates that this tracking relates to linguistic knowledge may be reduced autism. Such tracking, if present already infancy, could impede language development. In current study, we focused on children with a family history of autism, who often show delay first acquisition. We investigated whether differences sung nursery rhymes during infancy relate development autism symptoms...