Perception of Caucasian and African faces in 5-to 9-month-old Caucasian infants: A functional near-infrared spectroscopy study

Race is an important perceptual cue for face perception. In adults, other-race faces are elaborated differently and remembered less well than own-race faces. Moreover, they show a different pattern of activation at the neural level. Developmental studies demonstrated that, during the first year of life, infants start to show the same behavioral pattern as adults in race perception. However, little is known about where and how in the brain other-race perception is elaborated in this population. The present study is the first to investigate the development of different neural responses to faces of different race in infants using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Specifically, a group of 5-month-old and a group of 9-month-old Caucasian infants were assessed during passing-viewing of Caucasian and African faces. Results showed a greater activation for African than for Caucasian faces for both oxy- and deoxy-hemoglobin. Moreover, results suggested a tendency for a progressive specialization between 5 and 9 months of age. This is the first fNIRS study investigating the neural correlates of race perception in Caucasian infants during the first year of life.