Brains get ready for processing faces well before birth
The functional brain network involved in processing faces in adults can be observed as early as the third trimester of pregnancy.
New research reveals that the brain network responsible for processing faces is detectable in the womb, even before birth. This groundbreaking finding, published in Imaging Neuroscience, indicates that functional brain networks involved in social perception begin to assemble during the third trimester of pregnancy. The study, led by Katarzyna Chawarska, a professor of child psychiatry, is the first to provide evidence of this occurrence.
The discovery of this pathway in the developing brain may potentially help researchers understand the origins of neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder, which are often associated with social attention differences. Chawarska explains that newborns' ability to orient towards socially engaging faces is crucial for bonding with caregivers and survival.
In older individuals, this function is supported by the social perception pathway. The study analyzed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from 167 fetuses and 477 neonates, with the social perception pathway showing particularly strong growth during the transition from fetal to postnatal development. Laura Ment, the study's senior author and a professor of pediatrics, emphasizes that understanding early brain organization could provide insights into how children develop social engagement and communication skills.
The researchers plan to follow infants from birth through toddlerhood to explore the connection between early characteristics of the social perception pathway and later social development. This study was supported by the National Institutes of Health and Yale University.
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