Many factors remain unknown on how infants acquire language and speech information in their formative years. In a study, researchers Leong et al., addressed the question of what “neural mechanism” infants use when first being introduced to language that allows for their unique “boot-strap language learning” style (Leong et al, 2017). When identifying the neurological workings of language acquisition in adults, it’s believed adults focus on certain aspects of speech, specifically the syllables and phonemes of general speech. In understanding if infants use this same focus (known as multi-time oscillatory analysis) when speech is directed to them, researchers used and compared wireless electroencephalography (EEG) speech frequency measurements between infants and adults by calculating “Phase-locking values” (PLVs). The findings were categorized based on the different speech rates being received by participants.
The method consisted of 58 participants made up of 29 infants and their mothers, but when testing, 19 of the infant’s researched provided sufficient data. The stimuli participants were processing during the experiment consisted of seven nursery rhymes familiar to both the child and parent. Since this study was to understand if adults and infants use similar neurological mechanisms, the mothers’ and infants’ EEG were recorded simultaneously and later compared results would reflect infant language processing relative to that of adult.
It was recognized that wireless research systems would benefit the accuracy of the study by eliminating uncomfortable, potentially distracting wires around the infants. Utilizing BIOPAC’s BioNomadix dual-channel wireless EEG amplifier paired with MP Research Acquisition System, data from the wireless EEG transmitter was then gathered through AcqKnowledge software, allowing for measurement of the PLVs while participants were processing nursery rhymes.
The results found evidence that infants were actually able to neurologically entrain speech better than adults when the rate was 9.3 Hz and 4.5 Hz, almost equally at 1-2 Hz, and less accurately with lower speech rates 0.5 Hz. The researchers specified that due to the results, future findings could further the understanding of the relationship between neural entrainment and language processing in early infants.
Behavioral inhibition (BI) has proven to be a fundamental risk factor in childhood anxiety psychopathology, arguably the most crucial factor in the development of anxiety. BI is defined as the increased arousal in response to novel stimuli, shyness, and withdrawal even in high-reward situations. The strength of this association varies based on respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) regulation, yet little is known about this function in children with anxiety disorders.
RSA is characterized as the rhythmic fluctuations in heart rate associated with the respiratory cycle regulated by the parasympathetic nervous system. In a “basal,” or low-threat situation, RSA slows down the heart to maintain baseline levels. In a “challenge,” or high-threat situation, RSA is suppressed, which results in an increased heart rate and a fight-or-flight response. Thus, a greater control of the parasympathetic nervous system corresponds with high basal RSA (slowed heart rate) and increased adaptability and composure during threatening situations.
In “Children's behavioral inhibition and anxiety disorder symptom severity: The role of individual differences in respiratory sinus arrhythmia ,” an original research article in tech science journal , Behaviour Research and Therapy, Viana, Andres G., et al. explored the ability of RSA to moderate the association between BI and anxiety disorder symptom severity. They investigated RSA response during both a basal situation and challenge situation in the context of clinical anxiety. Participants consisted of forty-four children between the ages of 8 and 12, and their mothers. The first session involved self-report questionnaires and clinical interviews, and the second session involved an experiment with the children in a challenge situation. Using a BIOPAC MP system, the researchers gathered electrocardiogram (ECG) data with a wireless BioNomadix ECG transmitter and receiver. They also measured changes in the subjects’ thoracic circumference with the wireless BioNomadix respiration transducer, and recorded online through AcqKnowledge.
The data collected were analyzed to find RSA mean scores and revealed a positive association between BI and anxiety disorder symptom severity. Children with high levels of BI and low RSA responses to basal and challenge situations were found to have the highest levels of anxiety disorder symptoms. In addition, among children with high RSA responses to basal and challenge situations, the association with BI was non-significant. These findings support the supposition that higher levels of RSA, and ability to control the parasympathetic nervous system, may function to weaken the relationship between BI and anxiety. Thus, higher RSA may be related to an increased ability to regulate psycho-physiological responses and emotion, and act as a buffer against psychopathology.
In a first-ever study to examine adult-infant neural coupling and characterize its causal architecture, mutual direct gaze was seen to increase adult-infant neural coupling during social communication. Learning requires an individual’s full attention to retain the information being passed along. Attention sharing between people, through verbal spoken communication and nonverbal cues like eye gaze, is known to increase learning as it strengthens the attention amongst the individuals. Nonverbal cues are especially important in infant learning as they rely on them to learn meaning and intention. Little is known, however, about the cognitive processes behind this increased attention and predicting communication success. Victoria Leong, Elizabeth Byrne, Kaili Clackson, Sarah Lam and Sam Wass sought to understand whether gaze during spoken communication influences neural coupling, which would indicate communication success amongst adult and infant pairings. The experiment enlisted twenty-nine infants–fifteen males, and fourteen female–all around eight (8) months old, who interacted with one female adult experimenter. The adult experimenter addressed each infant one at a time and sang nursery rhymes that were familiar (sung at home by parents). The experimenter sang the nursery rhymes in two gaze conditions to each infant, either direct (gaze at infant) or indirect (gaze to the side of infant). EEG was recorded during the nursery rhyme procedure using BioNomadix wireless EEG amplifiers, connected to a MP160 research system. Teh wireless EEG setup was chosen to increase infant comfort and reduce distraction. The results confirmed the experimenters’ hypothesis as directional connectivity between adults and infants was higher during the directional gaze periods compared to the indirect gaze periods. Leong, et al also found that infants influenced adults more, rather than the other way around, over Alpha and Beta neural bands. This study provides a base for which other research can further investigate neural coupling’s effects in learning and other parts of social behavior beyond communication between infants and adults.
Stress has negative effects on the health of the body and the health of economies. When a person is feeling stress, the body releases certain chemicals that lower the immune system, increasing the likelihood that illnesses will form in the body. Stress can also cause negative effects in the workplace, as when workers take time off and seek treatment, the companies they work for lose money as well. The Mental Health Foundation estimates that around 12 million adults living in the United Kingdom visit their General Practitioner every year with concerns of their mental health that have been brought on by stress. Due to these illnesses, an estimated 13.3 million work days are lost every year. The World Health Organization estimates that around 8.4 million GBP (10.5 million USD) are lost by UK businesses due to these health concerns. Moreover, the average wait time to get treatment is 3-6 months. Because of these factors, over the last decade studies performed on stress and mental health have increased in popularity.
Researchers, Mozos, Oscar Martinez, et al. aimed to detect stressful behaviors by having their participants wear noninvasive physiological monitoring systems to find what activities elicited stress. These experiments were performed in a laboratory setting, using the TSST (Tier Social Stress Test) to manage levels of anxiety in each participant in a controlled situation; this popular method was used in over 4,000 settings over the last decade. The total sample size the researchers used was 18, male and female volunteers from the School of Psychology at the University of Lincoln in the UK.
The social task presented was for the subject to prepare a presentation for a mock job interview, and tasked to speak continuously for five minutes. When subjects paused the first time, the experimenter would tell them their remaining time and ask them to continue. The second time the participant paused they would be asked a set of predefined interview questions. For the cognition task, the experimenter asked the participant to count down from 1022 in sets of 13, for five minutes. If the participant made a mistake, they were asked to start from 1022 again.
Using the wearable, dual-signal BioNomadix, researchers wirelessly recorded electrodermal activity (EDA) and pulse plethysmograms (PPG), then analyzed the data to gather the Heart Rate Variability (HRV) between different tasks the subjects were doing, and extrapolate the stress the subjects were feeling in those conditions. The goal of the researchers was to show that using wearable monitoring systems can help detect stress, and with variations, can be applied outside of the lab, and into everyday interactions to get a firmer grip on what is causing anxiety and stress in millions of people.
Many factors remain unknown on how infants acquire language and speech information in their formative years. In a study, researchers Leong et al., addressed the question of what “neural mechanism” infants use when first being introduced to language that allows for their unique “boot-strap language learning” style (Leong et al, 2017). When identifying the neurological workings of language acquisition in adults, it’s believed adults focus on certain aspects of speech, specifically the syllables and phonemes of general speech. In understanding if infants use this same focus (known as multi-time oscillatory analysis) when speech is directed to them, researchers used and compared wireless electroencephalography (EEG) speech frequency measurements between infants and adults by calculating “Phase-locking values” (PLVs). The findings were categorized based on the different speech rates being received by participants.
The method consisted of 58 participants made up of 29 infants and their mothers, but when testing, 19 of the infant’s researched provided sufficient data. The stimuli participants were processing during the experiment consisted of seven nursery rhymes familiar to both the child and parent. Since this study was to understand if adults and infants use similar neurological mechanisms, the mothers’ and infants’ EEG were recorded simultaneously and later compared results would reflect infant language processing relative to that of adult.
It was recognized that wireless research systems would benefit the accuracy of the study by eliminating uncomfortable, potentially distracting wires around the infants. Utilizing BIOPAC’s BioNomadix dual-channel wireless EEG amplifier paired with MP Research Acquisition System, data from the wireless EEG transmitter was then gathered through AcqKnowledge software, allowing for measurement of the PLVs while participants were processing nursery rhymes.
The results found evidence that infants were actually able to neurologically entrain speech better than adults when the rate was 9.3 Hz and 4.5 Hz, almost equally at 1-2 Hz, and less accurately with lower speech rates 0.5 Hz. The researchers specified that due to the results, future findings could further the understanding of the relationship between neural entrainment and language processing in early infants.
