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June 2009 swinburne
Sitting on her mother’s lap with a tiny,
Velcro-covered mitten covering her 11-weekold
hand, Molly reaches for an object that
is similarly covered in Velcro. It’s a simple
move that defies what other babies her age
typically do, which is how young Molly
is helping researchers better understand
developing brain activity.
As a ‘baby scientist’ Molly is helping
researchers at Swinburne University of
Technology’s Brain Science Institute
learn more about a process called mirror
neuron activity – where the brain mirrors
the activity of another person, activating a
neuron response, even though no physical
movement occurs.
Leading the work is Dr Jordy Kaufman,
who moved to Melbourne from the University
of London, Birkbeck, to establish the
Swinburne Baby Laboratory in early 2008.
Dr Kaufman says Molly’s involvement in
the lab’s ‘Sticky Mittens’ project is allowing
researchers to explore brain development.
“At three months old babies are not good at
reaching for things, but with practice they
can do something like it. It may look like
they are just swiping or swatting at things,
but they are trying to get the toy.”
Previous US-led research has shown that
babies with ‘sticky mitten’ experience take
more of these bold, directive actions – that is,
they grab at objects more than other babies.
Sticky mitten research began about a
decade ago with Professor Amy Needham,
who supervised Dr Kaufman’s PhD in her
previous role at Duke University.
Now at the Department of Psychology
and Human Development at Nashville’s
Vanderbilt University, Professor Needham
says these types of projects help to build
an understanding of infant motor skill
development and the changes behind it.
“Development is a complex phenomenon
and we are only now starting to understand
the many ways in which different processes
influence each other as development takes
place,” she says.
Perhaps most importantly for those who
are exploring brain development, is that
babies with a sticky mitten experience also
watch the actions of others more closely.
And by carefully watching the actions of
others, there is the possibility of enhanced
brain development, allowing infants to better
interpret other people’s actions.
Swinburne’s Dr Kaufman says his sticky
mitten research will monitor this. “We want
to know if giving babies a sticky mitten
experience leads them to show more mirror
neuron activity than those without.”
To answer this question, Dr Kaufman
is studying the brain waves of two sets of
babies: those like Molly who have sticky
mitten experience and those without. In both
cases babies watch their parent grab for an
object while their brain waves are monitored.
“We are essentially finding out more about
the mind’s building blocks.”
The Swinburne Baby Laboratory monitors
these brain waves using a non-invasive
electroencephalogram (EEG). It works
in much the same way as a thermometer
measures temperature. A net of 128 sensors
is placed over a baby’s head to measure
naturally occurring brain activity. The sensors
capture the electrical signals coming from the
brain while the baby watches objects or listens
to sounds. Dr Kaufman says it is a completely
safe experience for the babies involved and
usually lasts between two and 15 minutes.
The work could also have commercial
ramifications. Dr Andy Bremner, a former
colleague of Dr Kaufman’s from the
University of London, Goldsmiths, says
that because sticky mitten research may
help to explain how active exploratory
experiences drive development, it could
provide toy manufacturers with evidence that
certain educational products are beneficial.
“Currently there is little evidence basis for
any benefit of such toys, but this research
could help to provide this.”
That aside, Dr Kaufman says what
drives the Swinburne Baby Laboratory is
the ability to provide insight into the minds
of infants and young children. Its work has
important ramifications for learning about the
development of autism and schizophrenia.
“Understanding how these conditions develop
could lead to more sensitive diagnostic
measures, and therefore earlier intervention.”
One way of doing this is to measure how
babies’ brains react to changes in sound, a
perceptual process called ‘change detection’,
Lab delves into our infancy
The Swinburne Baby Laboratory is Australia’s first cognitive neuroscience
facility for babies and infants.
It was established in early 2008 by Dr Jordy Kaufman, who became
interested in studying brain development when he undertook a cognitive
science degree at Carnegie Mellon University and a PhD at Duke
University with Professor Amy Needham. His interest then led him to
the UK to work with Professor Mark Johnson at the Centre for Brain and
Cognitive Development at the University of London, Birkbeck.
He wants to find out how the mental world of infants differs from that
of adults.
“We are more infantile than we think,” he says. “Only 10 to 15 per
cent of things we do now are different from what we did then. Yet, the
relationship between brain development and cognitive development in
babies is largely unknown.”
What drives Dr Kaufman is the desire to give scientists and parents
alike a window into this world from which we have all grown. “Almost
all parents at some point wonder what it is that their baby can see, hear,
feel, remember and understand. The Swinburne Baby Laboratory was
created to help answer these questions,” he says.
More information
• If you are a parent of a baby or child up to 5 years old, you can take part in
research at the Swinburne Baby Laboratory by emailing babylab@swin.edu.au
or visiting www.babylab.org
The more we know about the typically
developing brain, the more scientists can
discover markers for atypical development.
which forms the basis of another Swinburne
Baby Laboratory project. “Basically this
means we play some sounds and then change
it and see what their brain waves do.
“We know how adults’ brains respond
to auditory change – even in our sleep our
brains are aware of any changes in noise –
but do babies respond?”
Finding out if babies do respond to
auditory change could lead to a better
understanding of how autism and
schizophrenia develop. For example, people
with schizophrenia do not show the same
level of change detection as those without
it; and some people with autism are highly
sensitive to auditory change.
“So by monitoring how the brain develops
we might gain more insight into this,”
Dr Kaufman says. “The more we know
about the typically developing brain, the
more scientists can discover markers for
atypical development, perhaps leading to
early diagnostic tests and early interventions
to minimise the negative effects of atypical
brain development.” ••
Contact. .
Swinburne University of Technology
1300 MY SWIN (1300 697 946)
magazine@swinburne.edu.au
www.swinburne.edu.au/magazine
neuroscience
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