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Abstract
Infants possess sophisticated abilities for interpreting events and generating expectations. Recent evidence suggests that logical reasoning may play an important role in how infants learn and understand (Cesana-Arlotti et al., 2018; Bohus et al., 2023, Current Biology, 33, 4014-4020.e5). However, the computations that ground such abilities and their neural bases still need to be understood. Here, we raise these two critical questions using optical brain-imaging and oculomotor methods to explore infants' logical/reasoning processes when, embedded in scenes, they can determine the identity of an object (A or B) via disjunctive syllogism (not A, therefore B). Results show greater bilateral hemodynamic activation in fronto-parietal regions when infants view scenes with logical content as compared to scenes where no logical reasoning is involved. Furthermore, oculomotor responses revealed higher processing load during two crucial moments of the scenes (when something unknown had to be represented and when the identity of a non-visible object could be inferred), suggesting adaptive integration of information by means of logical routines. Altogether, these findings indicate that 12-month-olds process scenes with logical content spontaneously, with a pupil dilation profile similar to that found in adults (Martín-Salguero et al., 2023, Scientific Reports, 13, 2341), but a neural response different from the left-lateralized pattern characterizing mature brains (Martín-Salguero et al., 2023, Scientific Reports, 13, 2341; Baggio et al., 2016, NeuroImage, 135, 300-310; Reverberi et al., 2012, Neuroimage, 59, 1752-64; Reverberi et al., 2009, Neuropsychologia, 47, 1107-1116). Our results imply/suggest that in reasoning the same functional operation is realized in neural circuits, which maturation, experience, or language learning later modify and mold into a more specialized cortical organization.
References:
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