Thursday, 26 September 2024
New research using experimental and brain imaging tools has shown that there is an association between caregiver and child cognition.
Researchers from the University of Nottingham’s School of Psychology examined infant visual cognition – important for how they navigate the world around them, engage with objects, and learn new concepts. The team explored whether caregiver cognitive functions would be associated with infant visual cognition.
Around 90 families from East Midlands area who had infants between the ages of 6 and 10 months took part in the study in the Infant and Toddler Lab in the School of Psychology at the University of Nottingham. During their visit, both caregivers and their infants participated in experimental tasks while the researchers measured their behavioural responses and brain function using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).
In this technique, caregivers and infants wear caps with sensors that shine near-infrared light to measure brain function. Infants and caregivers were presented with colourful changing shapes on a TV screen and researchers examined how they both looked at and switched their gaze between the shapes. Caregivers also completed an inhibitory control task (how they respond to some stimuli and inhibit their response to others) and questionnaires that assessed how they regulated their behaviours.
The team found that infant visual cognition was linked to two aspects of caregiver cognition – their own visual cognition and behavioural regulation. Specifically, infants’ abilities to detect change was linked to their caregivers’ abilities to also detect change and efficiently monitor and/or inhibit their behaviours. In addition to behavioural links, the team also found a link between caregiver and infant brain function - in regions in the parietal cortex, an area important for attending to objects in space, working memory and attention.
Dr. Sobana Wijeakumar, Assistant Professor in the School of Psychology has led this research, she said: “We are excited about these findings. We know from later in development that there are links between caregiver cognition and child cognition. It is promising to see these associations in the first year of life both in behaviour and brain function. In the future, these findings could potentially be used to customize interventions based on caregiver behavioural preferences.
We are also excited about the next stage of our work which tackles whether these associations are linked to how caregivers and infants interact with one another during play time”.
One of the families commented: “Learning that there is a link between my own and my baby’s behaviour and brain development is fascinating. We know that as they get older, they start to ‘copy’ our behaviours but trying to examine how our brains could also be similarly wired - blows my mind.”
The research has been published in the journals - Infant Behaviour and Development and Infant and Child Development.
Story credits
More information is available from Dr Sobana Wijeakumar on sobanawartiny.wijeakumar@nottingham.ac.uk
Notes to editors:
About the University of Nottingham
Ranked 32 in Europe and 16th in the UK by the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2024, the University of Nottingham is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience, and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our students. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement.
Nottingham was crowned Sports University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 – the third time it has been given the honour since 2018 – and by the Daily Mail University Guide 2024.
The university is among the best universities in the UK for the strength of our research, positioned seventh for research power in the UK according to REF 2021. The birthplace of discoveries such as MRI and ibuprofen, our innovations transform lives and tackle global problems such as sustainable food supplies, ending modern slavery, developing greener transport, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The university is a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally - and our graduates are the second most targeted by the UK's top employers, according to The Graduate Market in 2022 report by High Fliers Research.
We lead the Universities for Nottingham initiative, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, a pioneering collaboration between the city’s two world-class institutions to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing for residents in the city and region we are proud to call home.
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