How infants learn to see and understand their surroundings
How do Cortical regions selective for visual scenes develop in human infants?
This research explores how babies' brains develop the ability to recognize and navigate visual environments during their first year of life.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Cambridge, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11159611 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
We want to understand how the brain regions responsible for seeing and understanding scenes, like a room or a park, grow and change in infants. While we know adults use specific brain areas for this and babies show early signs of spatial skills, it's unclear how these brain areas develop in the first year. We will use safe brain imaging techniques, fMRI and fNIRS, with awake infants to observe this development. Our goal is to test different ideas about whether this ability starts with simple visual information or if it's influenced by more complex brain connections from the beginning.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: This research is specifically designed for healthy human infants, particularly during their first year of life, to observe typical brain development.
Not a fit: Adults or individuals with acquired brain injuries would not directly benefit from participating in this specific study, as it focuses on typical infant development.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Understanding how infants typically develop scene perception could help us better identify and support children who might be at risk for developmental challenges related to spatial awareness and navigation.
How similar studies have performed: While there is existing knowledge about adult brain regions for scene perception and early infant behavioral skills, this particular approach addresses a key gap in understanding how these brain regions develop in infants.
Where this research is happening
Cambridge, United States
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology — Cambridge, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Saxe, Rebecca R — Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Study coordinator: Saxe, Rebecca R
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.