A new study suggests that babies are able to distinguish between the different objects they see around them at 2 months old, which earlier than scientists previously thought. The findings may help doctors and researchers better understand cognitive development in infancy.
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Here's what emergency doctors want you to doYoung people are protesting ICE and reenacting immigration raids in online gaming platform RobloxHere’s what dermatologists are saying about your skin care routine: Keep it simpleRecaudaciones muestran a republicanos muy por delante de demócratas antes de elecciones legislativasAn internal document shows the Vietnamese military preparing for a possible American warAuthorities believe 'Today' show host Savannah Guthrie's mother was taken against her willIOC leader Coventry warns of 'uncomfortable' change coming to Olympics programsThree Dog Night's Chuck Negron, voice behind 'Joy to the World,' dies at 83Seeking shelter from Trump's fury, US trade partners reach deals with each otherNASA hit by fuel leaks during a practice countdown of the moon rocket that will fly with astronautsFreezing reptile dubbed 'Lizard in a blizzard' is rescued after being buried in Rhode Island snowMonkeys are on the loose in St. Louis and AI is complicating efforts to capture themDo you need to control your cortisol? Probably not, doctors sayA Galapagos albatross' 3,000-mile detour to California puzzles scientistsSome people tape their mouths shut at night. Doctors wish they wouldn'tIt's freezing cold and you've lost power. Here's what emergency doctors want you to doYoung people are protesting ICE and reenacting immigration raids in online gaming platform RobloxHere’s what dermatologists are saying about your skin care routine: Keep it simpleRecaudaciones muestran a republicanos muy por delante de demócratas antes de elecciones legislativasScienceIn this undated photo, Baby Blaise attends her 9-month Foundcog scan with her mother Mary at Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience in Dublin, Ireland. In this undated photo, baby Sadie attends her 2-month Foundcog scan with her mother Donna at Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience in Dublin, Ireland. In this undated photo, baby Blaise attends her 2-month Foundcog scan with her mother Mary at Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience in Dublin, Ireland. In this undated photo, baby Maeve Truzzi-Scott attends her 2-month Foundcog scan with her mother, Dr Anna Truzzi, coauthor, and her dad, Dr. Ian Cecil Scott at Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience in Dublin, Ireland. In this undated photo, Baby Blaise attends her 9-month Foundcog scan with her mother Mary at Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience in Dublin, Ireland. In this undated photo, Baby Blaise attends her 9-month Foundcog scan with her mother Mary at Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience in Dublin, Ireland. In this undated photo, baby Sadie attends her 2-month Foundcog scan with her mother Donna at Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience in Dublin, Ireland. In this undated photo, baby Sadie attends her 2-month Foundcog scan with her mother Donna at Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience in Dublin, Ireland. In this undated photo, baby Blaise attends her 2-month Foundcog scan with her mother Mary at Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience in Dublin, Ireland. In this undated photo, baby Blaise attends her 2-month Foundcog scan with her mother Mary at Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience in Dublin, Ireland. In this undated photo, baby Maeve Truzzi-Scott attends her 2-month Foundcog scan with her mother, Dr Anna Truzzi, coauthor, and her dad, Dr. Ian Cecil Scott at Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience in Dublin, Ireland. In this undated photo, baby Maeve Truzzi-Scott attends her 2-month Foundcog scan with her mother, Dr Anna Truzzi, coauthor, and her dad, Dr. Ian Cecil Scott at Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience in Dublin, Ireland. are able to distinguish between the different objects they see around them at 2 months old, which is earlier than scientists previously thought. “It really tells us that infants are interacting with the world in a lot more complex of a way than we might imagine,” said lead author Cliona O’Doherty. “Looking at a 2-month-old, we maybe wouldn’t think that they’re understanding the world to that level.” The study looked at data from 130 2-month-olds who underwent brain scans while awake. The babies viewed images from a dozen categories commonly seen in the first year of life, such as trees and animals. When babies looked at an image like a cat, their brains might “fire” a certain way that researchers could record, O’Doherty said. If they looked at an inanimate object, their brains would fire differently. The technique — known as functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI — allowed scientists to examine visual function more precisely than in the past. Many previous studies relied on how long an infant looked at an object, which can be difficult to assess at younger ages. Some of those past studies suggested that infants as young as 3 to 4 months could distinguish between categories such as animals and furniture. “What we’re showing is that they really already have this ability to group together categories at two months,” O’Doherty said. “So it’s something much more complex than we would’ve thought before.” In the new study, many of the babies returned at 9 months, and researchers successfully collected data from 66 of them. In the 9-month-olds, the brain was able to distinguish living things from inanimate objects much more strongly than in the 2-month-olds, O’Doherty said. Someday, researchers said, scientists may be able to connect such brain imaging to cognitive outcomes later in life. Liuba Papeo, a neuroscientist at the National Center for Scientific Research in France, said the number of babies in the study is one thing that makes the work “impressive and unique.” Brain imaging with very young infants presents challenges. “One — perhaps the most obvious — is that the infant needs to comfortably in the fMRI scanner while awake without moving,” she said in an email. O’Doherty, who did the work at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland, said the key was making the experience as comfortable as possible for the babies. Inside the scanner, they reclined on a bean bag so they were snug. The images “appear really big above them while they’re lying down,” she said. “It’s like IMAX for babies.”The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.Ungar covers medicine and science on the AP’s Global Health and Science team. She has been a health journalist for more than two decades.
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