top of page
Infant brain responses to other people and their actions

Researchers
Dr Áine Ní Choisdealbha, University College Dublin (UCD), Dr Nuala Brady, UCD, and Florencia Sandoval-Gomez, UCD

Our Research
During infancy, babies must learn how to move around, and to use different objects objects. They learn by doing, but also by watching other people. If you pick up a hairbrush, your baby might expect that you'll brush your hair. We know that as babies get better at doing things themselves (e.g. picking up toys, or drinking from their own cup), they also get better at figuring our what other people are going to do.

adPic.jpg

We also know that many parts of the brain that we use to do things, are also active when we watch other people doing the same things. In this study, we'd like to see how the baby brain responds to people doing actions with different parts of the body (e.g. reaching with the arm, kicking with the leg), and how this might differ for babies at different stages of development, and babies with different motor skills.

​

We use EEG (electroencephalography) in our research. With this method, we put a special cap containing sensors on your baby's head. Everybody's brain generates little electrical pulses all the time, and we can use these sensors to record the "brain waves" that result from all of this electrical activity. EEG is a commonly used method in research on infants' development. The EEG equipment we use is CE marked. This means it complies with all the EU requirements for health and safety.

​​

Who can take part in the study?

If you are the parent or guardian of a child under 14 months, we would like to invite you and your baby to take part. We have not yet started seeing babies in the lab, but you can register your interest here and we will contact you once we do.​​​​​

infants.png

What will happen during the study?
If you come to take part in the study, we will ask you to visit our research facilities at UCD, and to spend approximately one hour with us. You will stay with your child throughout this research visit. We'll meet you when you arrive at UCD, talk you through what will happen during the study, and ask you to fill in some paperwork. We will measure your child's head and prepare the EEG cap. After we place the cap on your child's head, we will show them some videos of people playing with toys and using objects with their hands and feet. We will also present your child with some toys to reach for and play with.  You and your child can withdraw from the study at any time.

You only need to participate in one session, however if you are interested in returning for a second or third session, and you tell us so, we may invite you back. Having multiple measurements from the same baby at different ages can help us better understand how the brain responses we are studying change with development.

Contact
Áine Ní Choisdealbha, aine.nichoisdealbha@ucd.ie, or Nuala Brady, nuala.brady@ucd.ie

bottom of page