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Sensitivity to rotational motion in early infancy

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Abstract

Sensitivity to rotational motion, one of the fundamental components of optic flow, was tested in infants aged 2 and 3 months. The infants in both groups showed significant sensitivity to rotational motion only in the high-speed condition (10.62°/s). There was no significant increase in motion sensitivity between 2 and 3 months of age, indicating that there is not a significant developmental change during this period. A comparison of our results with previous findings that showed a significant increase in radial motion sensitivity between 2 and 3 months suggests that different motion sensitivities have different developmental time courses.

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Acknowledgments

We thank our participants and their families for their kind cooperation, as well as Yumiko Otsuka, Emi Nakato, Hiromi Okamura, Tomoko Imura, Aki Tsuruhara, Jiale Yang, Yuka Yamazaki, and Megumi Kobayashi for their assistance in data collection. This research was financially supported by the Foundation of Technology Supporting the Creation of Digital Media Contents from the Japan Science and Technology Agency (to M.K.Y) and Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (18000090 to M.K.Y and 19-1464 to N.S).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Tokyo Metropolitan University, 1-1 minamiohsawa, Hachiohji, Tokyo, 192-0397, Japan

    Nobu Shirai

  2. Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan

    Nobu Shirai

  3. Department of Psychology, Japan Women’s University, 1-1-1 Nishi-ikuta, Tama-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, 214-8565, Japan

    So Kanazawa

  4. Department of Psychology, Chuo University, 742-1, Hachiohji, Tokyo, 192-0393, Japan

    Masami K. Yamaguchi

  5. PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Tokyo, Japan

    Masami K. Yamaguchi

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  1. Nobu Shirai
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  2. So Kanazawa
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  3. Masami K. Yamaguchi
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Correspondence to Nobu Shirai.

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Shirai, N., Kanazawa, S. & Yamaguchi, M.K. Sensitivity to rotational motion in early infancy. Exp Brain Res 190, 201–206 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-008-1461-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-008-1461-2

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