Neural selectivity for social interactions in the infant brain
Manuel Mello, Emilie Serraille, Jean-Rémy Hochmann, Liuba Papeo · 2026
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Description
Manuel Mello and colleagues show that babies already pick out social interaction with their brains in a 2026 study. Infants in the first year watched people facing and moving toward each other, as if interacting, or moving away. A gentle light-based brain method recorded activity over the back and side of the head, areas also used by adults for social perception.
Both six-month and ten-month babies showed stronger responses to the interacting pairs. Older infants showed the effect over a wider area and looked longer at interacting people. Responses differed from those for simple body motion, pointing to separate systems. Early tuning of this kind may steer attention toward relationships and support later social learning.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Manuel Mello, Emilie Serraille, Jean-Rémy Hochmann, Liuba Papeo |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 63 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |