Inside the infant brain: Researchers study the impact of interaction with adults on social and language development

The University of Coimbra (UC) is leading a research project to understand how infants' brains work during joint attention stimuli. The project aims to identify the brain regions that are most activated during interactions with adults, which are later associated with social and language development. Through this study, the team hopes to identify neural markers that may help identify children at a higher risk of having difficulties with social interaction and communication in the future.

Funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) with approximately €250,000, the research 'SocialBabyBrain - Neural correlates of joint attention: A foundational basis to subsequent social competence' is currently underway in Coimbra, and will run until 2026, with the participation of babies and their families starting next week.

According to Vera Mateus, the project coordinator and researcher at the Centre for Research in Neuropsychology and Cognitive-Behavioural Intervention (CINEICC) at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Coimbra (FPCEUC), “Joint attention — the way babies coordinate their attention with an adult in relation to an object — is an important milestone in their understanding of the social world around them”.

Mateus also emphasises that “knowing the brain mechanisms underlying the development of this social interaction skill can help identify early behavioural and neural patterns that pose a greater risk of difficulty in social interaction and communication with others”.

The study will engage these babies in a series of playful activities. Vera Mateus explains, "They will play games with a researcher, using different toys."

In one of the activities, the baby wears an elastic cap with sensors—a non-invasive and completely safe technique—enabling us to observe their brain activity. This technique, known as functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), records brain activation during play, helping us identify which areas are most active during interactions," explains the researcher. Additionally, the study involves a mother-baby play session and the completion of questionnaires to gain insight into the family and the baby.

"By collecting behavioural and neuroimaging data, this project will allow us not only to study changes in the baby's brain over time, but also to understand the relationship between behavioural manifestations of joint attention and the maturation of specific brain regions,” says the coordinator. “This will help us to explain individual differences in later socio-communicative skills, such as language and social competence”.

Vera Mateus goes on to say that the results of this study "may help guide early intervention programmes aimed at parents, as well as health and education professionals working with children in this age group, aimed at promoting more positive developmental trajectories”.

There is already some knowledge about the brain mechanisms involved in joint attention in infants and children, but “these studies tend to focus on a single moment of assessment, so our project was also designed to fill this knowledge gap,” says the researcher.

The study is open to families living in or around Coimbra with babies up to 9 months old. The study involves three sessions at the University of Coimbra: at 10, 13 and 24 months, with each session expected to last 1 hour and 15 minutes. Registration and any enquiries can be made via the e-mail address socialbabybrain@gmail.com.

The project also involves two other researchers from CINEICC, Ana Ganho Ávila and Mónica Sobral, as well as Ana Osório from Mackenzie Presbyterian University - São Paulo, Brazil, and Sara Cruz from Lusíada University - Porto.