Abstract

A fundamental property of most animals is the ability to see whether an object is approaching on a direct collision course and, if so, when it will collide. Using high-density electroencephalography in infants and a looming stimulus approaching under three different accelerations, we previously found how visual information for impending collision is sustained in the young human nervous system. In the present study, using longitudinal data on 25 infants at 4–5 months and 12–13 months, we show that infants’ looming-related brain activity is clearly localized in the visual cortex (V1) following retinotopic mapping, but is highly adaptive in its organization otherwise. Analyzing the orientation of electrical source flow, we provide evidence for a high degree of variability, spread across a relatively large area of the visual cortex. The findings reveal a highly dynamic functional organization, with connectivity patterns constantly emerging and changing in many different directions between trials. This suggests degeneracy of neural connectivity patterns through reentry principles, where neurons temporarily assemble to enable an appropriate looming response with the necessary precision.

摘要

大多数动物的基本属性是查看物体是否在直接碰撞过程中接近的能力，如果是，则何时碰撞。使用婴儿的高密度脑电图和在三种不同加速度下逼近的刺激，我们以前发现了即将发生碰撞的视觉信息如何在年轻人的神经系统中得以维持。在本研究中，使用有关4-5个月和12-13个月的25例婴儿的纵向数据，我们发现，与视网膜位点定位相关的婴儿的隐约性大脑活动明显位于视皮层（V1），但具有高度适应性在其他组织中。分析电源流的方向，我们提供了高度可变性的证据，这些可变性分布在相对较大的视觉皮层区域。研究结果揭示了一个高度动态的功能组织，在试验之间，连接模式不断出现并在许多不同方向发生变化。这表明通过折返原理对神经连通性模式进行退化，在这种原则下，神经元会临时组装以实现必要的精确度的适当隐约响应。