Wearable brain imaging device sheds light on how babies respond in real-world situations
The researchers believe this technology will pave the way for a deeper understanding of how different brain regions interact and how this affects neurodevelopment, particularly in conditions like autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
A new brain imaging method, developed by researchers at Birkbeck and UCL in collaboration with UCL spin-out Gowerlabs, has recorded unexpected activity in brain regions that process emotion when infants are placed in social situations.
This innovative method, documented in a new study published in Imaging Neuroscience, offers the most comprehensive view yet of infant brain activity. The technology, which can track activity across the whole of the baby’s brain surface in natural situations, provides the most complete picture to date of brain functions like hearing, vision and cognitive processing.
The device marks a significant step forward in studying both typical and atypical brain development in infants, with the potential to illuminate conditions such as dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Currently, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the most thorough way to observe brain activity, but it requires subjects to remain still inside a scanner for extended periods. This is especially challenging for infants, who typically need to be asleep or restrained during the process, making it difficult to capture their brain activity during natural behaviors like interacting with others.
To overcome these limitations, researchers have developed optical neuroimaging techniques such as high-density diffuse optical tomography (HD-DOT), which allow for portable, wearable devices that are more affordable than MRI. Building on these advances, this latest method, developed by the research team at Birkbeck and UCL, can now scan the whole infant brain, rather than only focusing on isolated areas.
In this new study, researchers from Birkbeck and UCL, in collaboration with Gowerlabs, enhanced HD-DOT to capture a complete map of infant brain activity across the head.
Professor Emily Jones, from Birkbeck’s School of Psychological Sciences, and an author of the study explained: “This is the first time we’ve been able to measure differences in activity across such a wide area of the brain in babies, including areas involved in processing sound, vision, and emotions. The technology developed in this study opens the door to a more natural observation of the brain as babies play, learn, and interact in real-world settings. This could greatly improve our understanding of how social development occurs and what underpins typical and atypical development.”
The study involved testing the whole-head imaging approach on sixteen infants aged five-to-seven months. The babies, while sitting on their parents' laps, were shown videos of actors singing nursery rhymes to simulate social scenarios and videos of moving toys to simulate non-social scenarios.
The results revealed differences in brain activity between social and non-social stimuli, with more localized activity in response to social interactions. Notably, researchers also detected unexpected activity in the prefrontal cortex, the brain region that processes emotions, highlighting that even very young infants are engaging in social processing.
Dr. Liam Collins-Jones, first author of the study from UCL Medical Physics & Biomedical Engineering and the University of Cambridge, noted: “Previously, we could only focus on individual areas of the brain, which limited our understanding of how the brain works in real-world settings. Now, we can observe brain-wide interactions and detect activity in regions we hadn’t considered before.”
The researchers believe this technology will pave the way for a deeper understanding of how different brain regions interact and how this affects neurodevelopment, particularly in conditions like autism and ADHD.
The device used in the study is an adapted version of a commercial system developed by Gowerlabs, a UCL spin-out founded in 2013 to help translate research from the UCL Biomedical Optics Research Laboratory into real-world applications.
By enhancing brain imaging technology, the study represents an important advancement in understanding early childhood development and the underlying processes that shape it. Researchers from both Birkbeck and UCL are optimistic about the future potential of this method to transform how we study brain function in natural, everyday contexts.