TY - JOUR
T1 - Characterization of performance on an automated visual recognition memory task in 7.5-month-old infants
AU - Dzwilewski, Kelsey L.C.
AU - Merced-Nieves, Francheska M.
AU - Aguiar, Andrea
AU - Korrick, Susan A.
AU - Schantz, Susan L.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by the following grants: Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research Center ( NIEHS P01 ES022848 and USEPA RD83543401 ), National Institutes of Health Institutional Training Grant Predoctoral Traineeship in Endocrine, Developmental & Reproductive Toxicology ( NIEHS T32 ES007326 ), Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award ( NIEHS F31 ES028607 ), and the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program ( NIH OD023272 ). The contents of this publication are solely the responsibility of the USEPA grantee and do not necessarily represent the official views of the USEPA. Further, USEPA does not endorse the purchase of any commercial products or services mentioned in the publication. The funding agencies did not have any role in the study design, in the collection, analysis, or interpretation of data, in the writing of this report, or in the decision to submit the paper for publication. The authors have no competing interests to disclose. We extend our gratitude to IKIDS participants and their families as well as the study staff.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2020/9/1
Y1 - 2020/9/1
N2 - Infant looking behaviors measured during visual assessment paradigms may be more reliable predictors of long-term cognitive outcomes than standard measures such as the Bayley Scales of Infant Development typically used in environmental epidemiology. Infrared eye tracking technology offers an innovative approach to automate collection and processing of looking behavior data, making it possible to efficiently assess large numbers of infants. The goals of this study were to characterize infant looking behavior measures including side preference, fixation duration, and novelty preference using eye tracking and an automated version of an established visual recognition memory paradigm that includes both human faces and geometric figures as stimuli. An ancillary goal was to assess the feasibility of obtaining a precise measure of looking to the eye region of faces from the eye-tracking data. In this study, 309 7.5-month-old infants from a prospective birth cohort were assessed using a visual recognition memory (VRM) paradigm. Infrared eye tracking was used to record looking time as infants were shown nine blocks of trials with a pair of identical faces or shapes followed by two trials in which the familiar stimulus was paired with a novel one. Infants were assessed in one of four conditions: in conditions A and B, stimulus set 1 were the familiar stimuli and set 2 were novel; in conditions C and D, set 2 were familiar and set 1 novel. The novel stimuli were presented on the right first in conditions A and C and on the left first in conditions B and D. We observed a significant right side preference, which has not been reported before (57% of looking time spent looking at right side stimulus, p-value < 0.0001). Infants showed a preference for the novel stimuli similar to that published in prior studies (57–60% of looking time spent looking at the novel stimulus, p-value < 0.0001), as well as average fixation durations similar to previous studies. Infants also showed a strong preference for the eyes versus the rest of the face (p-value < 0.0001). Novelty preference was significantly higher when set 2 stimuli were novel (p-value < 0.0001), suggesting a preference among infants for set 2 stimuli compared to set 1 stimuli. The pattern of novelty preference across trials was significantly different between infants who saw the novel stimuli on the left first and those who saw them on the right first (p-value < 0.0001) but the overall mean novelty preference was not significantly different between these groups. There were also significant differences in average fixation duration and eyes preference measures across stimuli (p-values < 0.05). These findings show that VRM assessment can be automated for use in large-scale epidemiological studies using infrared eye tracking with looking behavior measure results similar to those obtained with standard non-automated methods, and that side and stimulus preferences are important modifiers of looking behavior that are critical to consider in this type of assessment.
AB - Infant looking behaviors measured during visual assessment paradigms may be more reliable predictors of long-term cognitive outcomes than standard measures such as the Bayley Scales of Infant Development typically used in environmental epidemiology. Infrared eye tracking technology offers an innovative approach to automate collection and processing of looking behavior data, making it possible to efficiently assess large numbers of infants. The goals of this study were to characterize infant looking behavior measures including side preference, fixation duration, and novelty preference using eye tracking and an automated version of an established visual recognition memory paradigm that includes both human faces and geometric figures as stimuli. An ancillary goal was to assess the feasibility of obtaining a precise measure of looking to the eye region of faces from the eye-tracking data. In this study, 309 7.5-month-old infants from a prospective birth cohort were assessed using a visual recognition memory (VRM) paradigm. Infrared eye tracking was used to record looking time as infants were shown nine blocks of trials with a pair of identical faces or shapes followed by two trials in which the familiar stimulus was paired with a novel one. Infants were assessed in one of four conditions: in conditions A and B, stimulus set 1 were the familiar stimuli and set 2 were novel; in conditions C and D, set 2 were familiar and set 1 novel. The novel stimuli were presented on the right first in conditions A and C and on the left first in conditions B and D. We observed a significant right side preference, which has not been reported before (57% of looking time spent looking at right side stimulus, p-value < 0.0001). Infants showed a preference for the novel stimuli similar to that published in prior studies (57–60% of looking time spent looking at the novel stimulus, p-value < 0.0001), as well as average fixation durations similar to previous studies. Infants also showed a strong preference for the eyes versus the rest of the face (p-value < 0.0001). Novelty preference was significantly higher when set 2 stimuli were novel (p-value < 0.0001), suggesting a preference among infants for set 2 stimuli compared to set 1 stimuli. The pattern of novelty preference across trials was significantly different between infants who saw the novel stimuli on the left first and those who saw them on the right first (p-value < 0.0001) but the overall mean novelty preference was not significantly different between these groups. There were also significant differences in average fixation duration and eyes preference measures across stimuli (p-values < 0.05). These findings show that VRM assessment can be automated for use in large-scale epidemiological studies using infrared eye tracking with looking behavior measure results similar to those obtained with standard non-automated methods, and that side and stimulus preferences are important modifiers of looking behavior that are critical to consider in this type of assessment.
KW - Attention
KW - Eye tracking
KW - Infant cognition
KW - Information processing speed
KW - Visual recognition memory
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85086595177&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ntt.2020.106904
DO - 10.1016/j.ntt.2020.106904
M3 - Article
C2 - 32485220
AN - SCOPUS:85086595177
SN - 0892-0362
VL - 81
JO - Neurotoxicology and Teratology
JF - Neurotoxicology and Teratology
M1 - 106904
ER -