Speaker-Listener Neural Coupling Explains Gating Effect of Gaze on Infant Statistical Learning
Poster No:
794
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Wei Zhang1,2, Lorena Santamaria1,2, Stanimira Georgieva1,2, Victoria Leong1,2,3
Institutions:
1School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore, 2Early Mental Potential and Wellbeing Research (EMPOWER) Centre, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore, 3Department of Pediatrics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
First Author:
Wei Zhang
School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University|Early Mental Potential and Wellbeing Research (EMPOWER) Centre, Nanyang Technological University
Singapore, Singapore|Singapore, Singapore
School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University|Early Mental Potential and Wellbeing Research (EMPOWER) Centre, Nanyang Technological University
Singapore, Singapore|Singapore, Singapore
Co-Author(s):
Lorena Santamaria
School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University|Early Mental Potential and Wellbeing Research (EMPOWER) Centre, Nanyang Technological University
Singapore, Singapore|Singapore, Singapore
School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University|Early Mental Potential and Wellbeing Research (EMPOWER) Centre, Nanyang Technological University
Singapore, Singapore|Singapore, Singapore
Stanimira Georgieva
School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University|Early Mental Potential and Wellbeing Research (EMPOWER) Centre, Nanyang Technological University
Singapore, Singapore|Singapore, Singapore
School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University|Early Mental Potential and Wellbeing Research (EMPOWER) Centre, Nanyang Technological University
Singapore, Singapore|Singapore, Singapore
Victoria Leong
School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University|Early Mental Potential and Wellbeing Research (EMPOWER) Centre, Nanyang Technological University|Department of Pediatrics, University of Cambridge
Singapore, Singapore|Singapore, Singapore|Cambridge, United Kingdom
School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University|Early Mental Potential and Wellbeing Research (EMPOWER) Centre, Nanyang Technological University|Department of Pediatrics, University of Cambridge
Singapore, Singapore|Singapore, Singapore|Cambridge, United Kingdom
Introduction:
Infants possess powerful statistical learning capacities which are deployed in service of early language learning (Saffran & Kirkham, 2018). Furthermore, infants also learn selectively as a function of social context (Kuhl et al., 2003), facilitated by the speaker's use of ostensive signals such as eye contact. However, the intrapersonal and interpersonal neural mechanisms by which social contexts gate or facilitate early learning are still unclear. Here, we present a cross-cultural dyadic EEG study to identify conserved mechanisms for social modulation of infant statistical learning, considering the contribution of basic sensory entrainment to speech acoustics, as well as gaze-specific effects. We present evidence for the role of interpersonal speaker-listener coupling as a mechanism for gaze-related gating of infant statistical learning, over and above entrainment effects.
Methods:
The study included 47 infants from two sites: UK: N = 29, aged 282 ± 19 days; Singapore: N = 18, aged 294 ± 20 days; with no significant age difference (P = 0.054). As summarised in Fig 1, infants viewed pre-recorded videos of a British female adult who produced three distinct but phonologically-matched artificial languages, paired in counterbalanced order with either full, partial, or no speaker gaze. The adult's EEG was pre-recorded and analysed in conjunction with live infant EEG recordings. Infants' word learning was assessed by comparing their looking times to words versus nonwords for each artificial language (Fig 1c). Data were cleaned manually using annotated video records of infant behaviour and inspection for motion artifacts. Generalised partial directed coherence (GPDC) was applied to compute adult-infant neural coupling (AINC) and intra-infant neural coupling (IINC), reflecting directional information flow between EEG signals. We further computed infant neural-speech entrainment (NSE), defined as the cross-correlation between the infant's EEG signals and the Hilbert envelope of the speaker's acoustic signal. For all metrics, statistical significance was evaluated by comparing the results with their surrogate distributions using 1000 random temporal shuffles.
·Fig. 1. Overview of experimental design and statistical learning results.
Results:
Behavioural results confirmed a strong gating effect of gaze on infant word learning. Infants exhibited significant statistical learning only in the full-gaze condition (Fig. 1d). This was also the only condition in which significant NSE was observed (Fig. 2a). Further, partial least squares regression analysis applied to both interpersonal and within brain signals identified a double dissociation in which AINC strength significantly predicted infant statistical learning whereas IINC strength significantly predicted infants' communicative gesture scores on the Communicative Development Inventories (CDIs) (Fig. 2b). Finally, mediation analysis (Hayes, 2009) (Fig. 2c) showed that full gaze facilitated statistical learning primarily via the mediation of AINC, with no significant direct effects or contributions from other neural features. Although full gaze was associated with increased NSE, this did not explain infant learning in the full gaze condition.
·Fig. 2. Gaze effects on neural entrainment, coupling, and infant statistical learning.
Conclusions:
These findings provide support for the interpretation that speaker-listener neural coupling is a mechanism by which social contextual cues, such as speaker gaze, modulate early learning processes. Although acoustic entrainment is itself modulated by gaze, this does not explain gaze effects on early learning.
Emotion, Motivation and Social Neuroscience:
Social Cognition
Social Interaction 2
Language:
Language Acquisition 1
Speech Perception
Lifespan Development:
Early life, Adolescence, Aging
Keywords:
Development
Electroencephaolography (EEG)
Language
Learning
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
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Kuhl, P. K., Tsao, F.-M., & Liu, H.-M. (2003). Foreign-language experience in infancy: Effects of short-term exposure and social interaction on phonetic learning. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 100(15), 9096–9101. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1532872100
Saffran, J. R., & Kirkham, N. Z. (2018). Infant Statistical Learning. Annual Review of Psychology, 69(1), 181–203. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-122216-011805