Infants’ ERP Responses to Novel and Familiar Stimuli Change Over Time: Implications for Novelty Detection and Memory
Sandra A. Wiebe, Carol L. Cheatham, Angela F. Lukowski, Jennifer C. Haight, Abigail J. Muehleck, and Patricia J. Bauer
Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota

Detection of novelty is an important cognitive ability early in development, when infants must learn a great deal about their world. Work with adults has identified networks of brain areas involved in novelty detection; this study investigated electrophysiological correlates of detection of novelty and recognition of familiarity in 9-month-old infants, using event-related potentials (ERPs). Infants were familiarized with an event in the laboratory, then ERPs were recorded as they viewed repeated presentations of pictures of this familiar event and a novel event, along with single presentations of 30 trial-unique events. A middle-latency negative component was sensitive to degree of novelty, differing in amplitude and latency by stimulus condition and across repeated presentations. Long-latency slow-wave activity also related to stimulus condition. Findings have implications for our understanding of infants’ detection of novel information and the processes that render the novel familiar.