Dataset Information

Infants' Daily Experience With Pets and Their Scanning of Animal Faces.

ABSTRACT: Very little is known about the effect of pet experience on cognitive development in infancy. In Experiment 1, we document in a large sample (N = 1270) that 63% of families with infants under 12 months have at least one household pet. The potential effect on development is significant as the first postnatal year is a critically important time for changes in the brain and cognition. Because research has revealed how experience shapes early development, it is likely that the presence of a companion dog or cat in the home influences infants' development. In Experiment 2, we assess differences between infants who do and do not have pets (N = 171) in one aspect of cognitive development: their processing of animal faces. We examined visual exploration of images of dog, cat, monkey, and sheep faces by 4-, 6-, and 10-month-old infants. Although at the youngest ages infants with and without pets exhibited the same patterns of visual inspection of these animals faces, by 10 months infants with pets spent proportionately more time looking at the region of faces that contained the eyes than did infants without pets. Thus, exposure to pets contributes to how infants look at and learn about animal faces.

SUBMITTER: Hurley K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6048265 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Infants' Daily Experience With Pets and Their Scanning of Animal Faces.

Hurley Karinna K Oakes Lisa M LM

Frontiers in veterinary science 20180710

Very little is known about the effect of pet experience on cognitive development in infancy. In Experiment 1, we document in a large sample (<i>N</i> = 1270) that 63% of families with infants under 12 months have at least one household pet. The potential effect on development is significant as the first postnatal year is a critically important time for changes in the brain and cognition. Because research has revealed how experience shapes early development, it is likely that the presence of a co ...[more]

PMID: 30042950

Similar Datasets

Project description:PurposeDual wavelength retinal oximetry has been developed for adults, but is not available for infants. Retinal oximetry may provide insight into the pathophysiology of oxygen-mediated diseases like retinopathy of prematurity. More insight in the oxygen metabolism of the retina in infants may provide valuable clues for better understanding and subsequent prevention or treatment of the disease. The measurements of oxygen saturation are obtained with two fundus images simultaneously captured in two different wavelengths of light. The comparison in light absorption of oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin can be used to estimate the oxygen saturation within the retinal vessels by means of a software algorithm. This study aims to make retinal oximetry available for neonates. The first step towards estimating retinal oxygen saturation is determining the optical density ratio. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to image healthy newborn infants with a scanning laser ophthalmoscope and determine the optical density ratio for retinal oximetry analysis.MethodsImages of the retina of full-term healthy infants were obtained with an SLO, Optomap 200Tx (Optos), with two laser wavelengths (532nm and 633nm). The infant lay face down on the lower arm of the parent, while the parent supported the chest and chin with one hand, and stabilized the back with the other hand. No mydriatics or eyelid specula were used during this study. The images were analyzed with modified Oxymap Analyzer software for calculation of the Optical Density Ratio (ODR) and vessel width. The ODR is inversely and approximately linearly related to the oxygen saturation. Measurements were included from the superotemporal vessel pair. A paired t-test was used for statistical analysis.ResultsFifty-nine infants, (58% female), were included with mean gestational age of 40 ± 1.3 weeks (mean ± SD) and mean post-natal age of 16 ± 4.8 days. A total of 28 images were selected for retinal oximetry analysis. The ODR was 0.256 ± 0.041 for the arterioles and 0.421 ± 0.089 for the venules (n = 28, p < 0.001). The measured vessel-width for the arterioles was 14.1 ± 2.7 pixels and for the venules 19.7 ± 3.7 pixels (n = 28, p < 0.001).ConclusionsRetinal oximetry can be performed in newborn infants by combining an SLO and a dual-wavelength algorithm software. Sensitivity of the approach is indicated by the fact that the ODR measurements are significantly different between the arterioles and the venules. However, more variability in ODR is seen with the SLO approach in babies than is seen with conventional oximetry in adults. This approach is completely non-invasive, non-contact and even avoids the use of mydriatics or eyelid specula.

Dataset Information

Infants' Daily Experience With Pets and Their Scanning of Animal Faces.

Publications

Infants' Daily Experience With Pets and Their Scanning of Animal Faces.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets