PDF(Pubmed)
Abstract：
Top-down modulation is an essential cognitive component in human perception. Despite mounting evidence of top-down perceptual modulation in adults, it is largely unknown whether infants can engage in this cognitive function. Here, we examined top-down modulation of motion perception in 6- to 8-month-old infants (recruited in North America) via their smooth-pursuit eye movements. In four experiments, we demonstrated that infants\' perception of motion direction can be flexibly shaped by briefly learned predictive cues when no coherent motion is available. The current findings present a novel insight into infant perception and its development: Infant perceptual systems respond to predictive signals engendered from higher-level learning systems, leading to a flexible and context-dependent modulation of perception. This work also suggests that the infant brain is sophisticated, interconnected, and active when placed in a context in which it can learn and predict.
摘要：
自上而下的调制是人类感知中必不可少的认知组成部分。尽管越来越多的证据表明成年人有自上而下的知觉调节，婴儿是否可以参与这种认知功能在很大程度上是未知的。这里,我们研究了6~8个月大婴儿(在北美招募)通过顺动眼球运动对运动知觉的自上而下调节.在四个实验中，我们证明，当没有连贯的运动可用时，婴儿对运动方向的感知可以通过短暂学习的预测线索来灵活地塑造。当前的发现为婴儿的感知及其发展提供了新的见解：婴儿感知系统对高级学习系统产生的预测信号做出反应，导致灵活的和上下文相关的感知调制。这项工作还表明，婴儿的大脑是复杂的，互联,并且在放置在可以学习和预测的上下文中时是活跃的。
