Descripción del proyecto
Abordar las alteraciones en la exploración visual de los niños prematuros
Los bebés se desarrollan muy rápido durante su primer año de vida. No solo se sienten intrínsecamente motivados a explorar el mundo que los rodea, sino que también son capaces de aprender gracias a centrar su atención visual en tipos concretos de estímulos. El proyecto financiado con fondos europeos InterPlay investigará las diferencias en la exploración visual intrínseca entre los niños prematuros y los nacidos a término. Dado que la exploración visual y la atención suelen verse alteradas en los niños prematuros, es posible que sufran retrasos en el desarrollo. El proyecto realizará un estudio longitudinal para integrar descubrimientos teóricos previos del campo de la atención visual infantil. Esto mejorará las prácticas terapéuticas y científicas actuales, incluidas las formas en que los cuidadores guían la atención de los niños prematuros para abordar las alteraciones en su exploración visual.
Objetivo
Infants learn and develop at incredible speed. Although relatively helpless at birth, infants undergo significant development in the first year of life in many domains. But how do infants learn so quickly? They likely gather information that is optimal for learning by systematically allocating their visual attention to specific types of stimuli. Allocation of visual attention can be (1) intrinsically driven to guide their explorations in the world, or (2) guided by other social agents. Moreover, infants’ intrinsic visual exploration may be dependent on the “hardware”: the brain. This project aims to develop a comprehensive account of how these mechanisms interact in full-term and pre-term infants. Visual exploration and attention is often disrupted in pre-term infants, which may contribute to developmental delays. Since the World Health Organization estimates that 15 million infants are born pre-term annually, it is crucial to investigate how infants visually explore their environment and how this can be promoted through social interactions. Research into infants’ visual attention has been conducted by scientists from various fields, but few attempts have been made to integrate these findings into a comprehensive framework. As such, the interplay between these factors remains unknown. This lack of integration causes severe gaps in our theoretical understanding, hindering the development of healthcare policies and interventions. InterPlay addresses these knowledge gaps by integrating previous observations into a comprehensive, longitudinal study. The findings will have implications for current scientific and therapeutic practices. If caregiver attention-guiding behaviours could compensate disruptions in pre-term infants’ visual exploration, this would offer great potential for interventions early in life. Furthermore, infants’ brain connectivity may provide a unique predictor for the necessity of intervention, allowing healthcare providers to act in a timely manner.
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Régimen de financiación
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinador
D02 CX56 Dublin
Irlanda