Neural Correlates of Human and Monkey Face Processing in 9-Month-Old Infants
Lisa S. Scott
Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts–Amherst
Robert W. Shannon
Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota
Charles A. Nelson
Institute of Child Development, Center for Cognitive Sciences, Center for Neurobehavioral Development, and Department of Pediatrics University of Minnesota

Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence suggests a gradual, experience-dependent specialization of cortical face processing systems that takes place largely in the 1st year of life. To further investigate these findings, event-related potentials (ERPs) were collected from typically developing 9-month-old infants presented with pictures of familiar and unfamiliar monkey or human faces in 2 different orientations. Analyses revealed differential processing across changes in monkey and human faces. The N290 was greater for familiar compared to unfamiliar faces, regardless of species or orientation. In contrast, the P400 to unfamiliar faces was greater than to familiar faces, but only for the monkey condition. The P400 to human faces differentiated the orientation of both familiar and unfamiliar faces. These results suggest more specific processing of human compared to monkey faces in 9-month-olds.