Using novel neural measures to explore the development of infant attention bias to threat

Abstract

Attention bias to threat is considered an adaptive cognitive phenomenon that is associated with developmental and psychopathological outcomes across the lifespan. However, investigations into the development of attention bias to threat in infancy have produced mixed results. Steady-state visual evoked potentials provide a robust measure of visual cortex processing and attention by capturing brain entrainment to the rhythmic flicker of visual stimuli. This investigation leveraged a novel steady-state visual evoked potential task to examine attention bias to threat via affective expressions and its changes with age within the first 2 years of life. Infants (N = 118, M_age = 9.21 months; range_age = 3-22 months; 57.61% female) viewed a series of affective face pairs (neutral with happy, fearful, or angry) in which one face flickered at 6 Hz and the other at 7.5 Hz, while their brain activity was measured with electroencephalography. Infants' frequency-tagged brain responses were larger to fearful faces, above all other expressions, consistent with the presence of an attention bias to threat in infancy. Affect-biased attention did not change with age. Furthermore, the presence of an attention bias toward fear was found prior to the literature-suggested age of 7 months. This study demonstrated the utility of using a robust and novel measure of attention, steady-state visual evoked potentials, to examine attention bias to threat and its development during infancy. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Figure 1. Topographical Map of SNR Across the Scalp

Note. Topographical maps of SNR across the scalp for each affective condition: Neutral, Happy, Fearful, and Angry. Areas with higher SNR are indicated by warmer color values.

Figure 2. SNR by Affective Condition

Note. A bar plot showing the SNR for each affective condition, including error bars representing the within-subject 95% confidence intervals (Loftus & Masson, 1994). Angry is shown in red, Fear in yellow, Happy in green, and Neutral in blue. The y-axis begins at 1 to better illustrate differences across conditions.

Figure 3. Comparisons of SNR Across Frequency for Each Affective Condition Versus Neutral

Note. Comparisons of SNR across frequencies for each trial type: A) Angry-Neutral, B) Happy-Neutral, and C) Fear-Neutral. The blue line in each graph represents SNR when the non-neutral expression (e.g., angry) is flickering at 6 Hz. The red line in each graph represents SNR when the non-neutral expression is flickering at 7.5 Hz. The vertical dotted lines in each plot indicate 6 Hz, 7.5 Hz, 12 Hz, 15 Hz, 18 Hz, and 22.5 Hz. The labels above each peak indicate hypothesized results such that the top condition should have higher SNR (e.g., Fear over Neutral indicates Fear should have higher SNR) with the text color indicating which line matches the rate of flickering at that frequency.

Figure 4. SNR by Affective Condition for Infants Younger than 7 Months of Age

Note. A bar plot showing the SNR for each affective condition, including error bars representing the within-subject 95% confidence intervals (Loftus & Masson, 1994). Angry is shown in red, Fear in yellow, Happy in green, and Neutral in blue. The y-axis begins at 1 to better illustrate differences across conditions. This analysis includes 53 infants younger than 7 months.