A5012261732- Child and Animal Learning Development
- Face Recognition and Perception
- Action Observation and Synchronization
- Neural dynamics and brain function
- Infant Health and Development
- Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
- EEG and Brain-Computer Interfaces
- Language Development and Disorders
- Multisensory perception and integration
- Early Childhood Education and Development
- Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
- Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Visual perception and processing mechanisms
- Child Development and Digital Technology
- Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Neuroscience and Music Perception
- Infant Development and Preterm Care
- Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Paranormal Experiences and Beliefs
- Embodied and Extended Cognition
- Face recognition and analysis
- Cognitive Science and Education Research
University of Vienna
2017-2025
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences
2010-2024
Heidelberg University
2009-2023
Leuphana University of Lüneburg
2023
University of Potsdam
2020-2023
Max Planck Society
2007-2021
FH Campus Wien
2021
University of Essex
2020
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
2020
University of California, Berkeley
2020
Understanding others is fundamental to interpersonal coordination and successful cooperation. One mechanism posited underlie both effective communication behavioral neural synchrony. Although presumably foundational for children's social development, research on synchrony in naturalistic caregiver-child interactions lacking. Using dual-functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), we examined the effects of interaction quality during a problem-solving task 42 dyads mothers their preschool...
Abstract One of the key transitions in early cognitive development is from participating face‐to‐face interactions to engaging joint attention exchanges. It known that ability jointly attend with another person an object essential for abilities such as language later life. Strikingly, little about function infants first year. We developed a novel interactive‐live paradigm assess neural mechanisms 9‐month‐old infants. An adult interacted each infant, and infants' electrical brain activity was...
Combined with emotional expressions, eye gaze can provide essential information to indicate threat in the environment. The current study assessed effects of direction on infants’ neural processing fearful and angry faces. Event‐related potentials were recorded from thirteen 7‐month‐old infants. Two face‐sensitive posterior components, N290 P400, as well a frontocentral negative component (Nc), indicating attentional arousal, sensitive emotion. A larger Nc was observed for faces direct...
Conversations are an essential form of communication in daily family life. Specific patterns caregiver-child conversations have been linked to children's socio-cognitive development and child-relationship quality beyond the immediate environment. Recently, interpersonal neural synchronization has proposed as a mechanism supporting conversation. Here, we present functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning study looking at temporal dynamics synchrony during mother-child...
For human infants, the first years after birth are a period of intense exploration—getting to understand their own competencies in interaction with complex physical and social environment. In contemporary neuroscience, predictive-processing framework has been proposed as general working principle brain, optimization predictions about consequences one’s actions, sensory inputs from However, rarely applied infancy research. We argue that may provide unifying perspective on several phenomena...
Social interactions are essential for understanding others' actions and their mental affective states. Specifically, interpersonal coordination - also referred to as synchrony allows actors adjust behaviors one another thus demonstrate connectedness each other. Much behavioral research has demonstrated the primacy of mutually synchronized social exchanges in early development. Additionally, new methodological advances now allow us examine not only at physiological but neural level....
Caregiver touch plays a vital role in infants' growth and development, but its as communicative signal human parent-infant interactions is surprisingly poorly understood. Here, we assessed whether proximity caregiver-infant dyads are related to neural physiological synchrony. We simultaneously measured brain activity respiratory sinus arrhythmia of 4-6-month-old infants their mothers (N=69 dyads) distal proximal joint watching conditions well an interactive face-to-face condition. Neural...
Interpersonal neural synchrony (INS) has been previously evidenced in mother-child interactions, yet findings concerning father-child interaction are wanting. The current experiment examined whether fathers and their 5- to 6-year-old children (N = 66) synchronize brain activity during a naturalistic interaction, addressed paternal child factors related INS. Compared individual problem solving rest, dyads showed increased INS bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex left temporo-parietal...
The use of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning during naturalistic interactions in parent–child dyads has substantially advanced our understanding the neurobiological underpinnings human social interaction. However, despite rise developmental studies over last years, analysis procedures have not yet been standardized and are often individually developed by each research team. This article offers a guide on fNIRS data MATLAB R. We provide an example dataset 20 assessed...
Infants prefer to be addressed with infant-directed speech (IDS). IDS benefits language acquisition through amplified low-frequency amplitude modulations. It has been reported that this amplification increases electrophysiological tracking of compared adult-directed (ADS). is still unknown which particular frequency band triggers effect. Here, we compare at the rates syllables and prosodic stress, are both critical word segmentation recognition. In mother-infant dyads (n=30), mothers...
Even before infants utter their first words, they engage in highly coordinated vocal exchanges with caregivers. During these so-called proto-conversations, caregiver–infant dyads use a presumably universal communication structure—turn-taking, which has been linked to favourable developmental outcomes. However, little is known about potential mechanisms involved early turn-taking. Previous research pointed interpersonal synchronization of brain activity between adults and preschool-aged...
Much of our basic understanding cognitive and social processes in infancy relies on measures looking time, specifically infants’ visual preference for a novel or familiar stimulus. However, despite being the foundation many behavioral tasks infant research, determinants preferences are poorly understood, differences expression can be difficult to interpret. In this large-scale study, we test predictions from Hunter Ames model infants' preferences. We investigate effects three factors...
Abstract It is a central tenet of attachment theory that individual differences in representations organize behavior during social interactions. Secure also facilitate behavioral synchrony, key component adaptive parent–child Yet, the dynamic neural processes underlying these interactions and potential role remain largely unknown. A growing body research indicates interpersonal synchrony (INS) could be neurobiological correlate high interaction relationship quality. In this study, we...
Abstract Previous research suggests that by 4 months of age infants use the eye gaze adults to guide their attention and facilitate processing environmental information. Here we address question how process relation between another person an external object. We applied ERP paradigm investigate neural processes underlying perception direction adult's in 4‐month‐old infants. Infants showed differential gaze, which was directed at a simultaneously presented object compared non‐object‐directed...
Abstract Recent research has demonstrated that infants’ attention towards novel objects is affected by an adult’s emotional expression and eye gaze toward the object. The current event‐related potential (ERP) study investigated how infants at 3, 6, 9 months of age process fearful compared to neutral faces looking or averting away from objects. Furthermore, we examined processing direction expression. We hypothesized should be particularly salient when it directed a referent in environment....
The sequential nature of action ensures that an individual can anticipate the conclusion observed via use semantic rules. processing language and has been linked to N400 component event-related potential (ERP). authors developed ERP paradigm in which infants adults simple sequences actions. In one condition sequence was anticipated, whereas other not anticipated. Adults at 9 months 7 were assessed same neural mechanisms-the analysis theta frequency. Results indicated produced N400-like...
Attention biases have been reported for ancestral threats like spiders and snakes in infants, children, adults. However, it is currently unclear whether these stimuli induce increased physiological arousal infants. Here, 6-month-old infants were presented with pictures of flowers (Study 1, within-subjects), or fish within-subjects; Study 2, between-subjects). Infants' pupillary responses linked to activation the noradrenergic system measured. Infants reacted dilation indicating compared...