Abstract
The question of how the postnatal maturation of the brain influences perceptual, motor and cognitive development is a difficult one. In this chapter I begin by focussing on how the postnatal growth of cortical sensory pathways may influence the development of vision, perception and attention. Next, I consider some ways that a cortical system may gain control over behavior, before concluding with some speculative remarks on the developmental processes which may result in particular cortical pathways becoming specialised for processing certain classes of input in the adult. While earlier sections concentrate on how perceptual development can be accounted for by the maturation of neural pathways, the last section outlines a specific role for experiential factors in brain development.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abramov, I., Gordon, J., Hendrickson, A., Hainline, L., Dobson, V. & Laboussier, E. (1982). The retina of the newborn human infant. Science, 217, 265–267.
Anderson, D.A. & Zipser, D. (1988). The role of the posterior parietal cortex in coordinate transformations for visual-motor integration. Canadian Journal of Physiology & Pharmacology, 66, 488–501.
Aslin, R.N. (1981). Development of smooth pursuit in human infants. In: D.F. Fisher, R.A. Monty & J.W. Senders (Eds.). Eye Movements: Cognition and Visual Perception. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum, 31–51.
Atkinson, J. (1984). Human visual development over the first six months of life: a review and a hypothesis. Human Neurobiology, 3, 61–74.
Atkinson, J., Hood, B., Wattam-Bell, J., Anker, S. & Tricklebank, J. (1988). Development of orientation discrimination in infants. Perception, 17, 587–595.
Bower, T.G.R. (1974). Development in Infancy. San Francisco: Freeman.
Bronson, G.W. (1974). The postnatal growth of visual capacity. Child Development, 45, 873–890.
Bronson, G.W. (1982). Structure, status and characteristicsof the nervous system at birth. In: P. Stratton (Ed.). Psychobiology of the Human Newborn. Chichester: John Wiley Sons.
Bushnell, I.W.R., Sai, F. & Mullin, J.T. (1989). Neonatal recognition of the mother’s face. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 7, 3–15.
Clarkson, M.G. & Clifton, R.K. (in press) Acoustic determinants of newborn orienting. In: M.J.Weiss & P.R. Zelazo (Eds). Newborn Attention. Norwood, N.J.: Ablex.
Clifton, R.K., Morrongiello, B.A., Kulig, J.W., & Dowd, J.M. (1981). Newborns’ orientation toward sound: possible implications for cortical development. Child Development, 52, 833–838.
Conel, J.L. (1939–1967). The Postnatal Development of the Human Cerebral Cortex, Vols. I–VIII. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Courten, de C., & Garey, L.J. (1982). Morphology of the neurones in the human lateral geniculate nucleus and their normal development. Exp. Brain Res., 47, 159–171.
de Schonen, S. & Mathivet, H. (1989). First come, first served: a scenario about the development of hemispheric specialisation in face recognition during infancy. European Bulletin of cognitive Psychology, 9, 3–44..
DeYoe, E.A. & Van Essen, D.C. (1989). Concurrent processing streams in monkey visual cortex. TINS, 11, 219–226.
Diamond, A. (1988). Differences between adult and infant cognition: is the crucial variable presence or absence of language? In: L. Weiskrantz (Ed.) Thought without Language. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Diamond, A. & Goldman-Rakic, P.S. (1983). Comparison of performance on a Piagetian object permanence task in human infants and rhesus monkeys: evidence for involvement of prefrontal cortex. Neuroscience Abstracts, 9, 641.
Diamond, A. & Goldman-Rakic, P.S. (1985). Evidence for the involvement of the prefrontal cortex in cognitive changes during the first year of life. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts, 11, 832.
Goren, C.C., Sarty, M. & Wu, P.Y.K. (1975). Visual following and pattern discrimination of face-like stimuli by newborn infants. Pediatrics, 56, 544–549.
Gottlieb, G. (1980). Development of species identification in ducklings VI: Specific embryonic experience required to maintain species-typical perception in Peking ducklings. J. comp. physiol. Psychol., 94, 579–587.
Granger, R., Ambrose-Ingerson, J. & Lynch, G. (1989). Derivation of encoding characteristics of layer II cerebral cortex. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 1, 61–87.
Haith, M.M., Hazan, C. & Goodman, G.S. (1988). Expectation and anticipation of dynamic visual events by 35-month old babies. Child Development, 59, 467–479.
Johnson, M.H. (1988). Memories of mother. New Scientist, 1600, 60–62.
Johnson, M.H. (1989). Cortical maturation and the development of visual attention in early infancy. London: MRC Cognitive Development Unit.
Johnson, M.H. (in press) Information processing and storage during filial imprinting. In: P.G. Hepper (Ed.). Kin Recognition. Cambridge: Cambridge University press.
Johnson, M.H. & Morton, J. (in press). The Development of Face Recognition, Oxford: Blackwells.
Johnson, M.H., Dziurawiec, S., Bartrip, J. & Morton, J. (subnitted for publication). Infants’ preferences for face-like stimuli: effects of the movement of internal features.
Johnson, M.H., Dziurawiec, S., Ellis, H.D. & Morton, J. (Submitted for publication). Newborns’ preferential tracking of face-like stimuli and its subsequent decline.
Kolb, B. (1989). Brain development, plasticity, and behavior. American Psychologist, 44, 1203–1212.
Leuba, G. & Garey, L.J. (1982). A morphometric developmental study of dendrites in the lateral geniculate of the monkey. Neurosci. 7, (suppl) 131.
Maratos. O. (1982). Trends in the development of early imitation in infancy. In: T.G. Bever (Ed.). Regressions in development: basic phenomena and theories. Hillsdale NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Maunsell, J.H.R. & Van Essen, D.C. (1983). The connections of the middle temporal visual area (MT) and their relation to a cortical hierarchy in the macaque monkey. Journal of Neuroscience, 3, 2563–2586.
Maurer, D. & Barrera, M. (1981). Infants’ perception of natural and distorted arrangements of a schematic face. Child Development, 47, 523–527.
Maurer, D. & Lewis, T.L. (1979). A physiological explanation of infants’ early visual development. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 33, 232–252.
Maurer, D. & Young, R.E. (1983). Newborns’ following of natural and distorted arrangements of facial features. Infant Behavior & Development, 6, 127–131.
McClelland, J. & Rumelhart, D. (1986). Parallel Distributed Processing. Vol. 2. Cambridge MA: MIT Press.
McGraw, M.B. (1943). The neuromuscular maturation of the human infant. New York: Columbia University press.
Morton, J. & Johnson, M.H. (Submitted for publication). Conspec and Conlern: A two-process theory of infant face recognition.
Morton, J., Johnson, M.H. & Maurer, D. (in press) On the reasons for newborns responses to faces. Infant Behavior & Development,
Muir, D.W., Clifton, R.K. & Clarkson, M.G. (1989). The development of a human auditory localization response: a U-shaped function. Canadian Journal of psychology, 43, 199–216.
Perrett, D.I., Rolls, E.T. & Caan, W, (1982). Visual neurones responsive to faces in the monkey temporal cortex. Exp. Brain Res., 47, 229–238.
Posner, M.I. & Rothbart, M.K. (1980). The development of attentional mechanisms. In: Flower, J.H. (Ed.). Nebraska Symposium on Motivation. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press.
Posner, M.I. & Rothbart, M.K. (1989). Attention: normal and pathological development. University of Oregon Institute of Cognitive & Decision Sciences Report No. 89-11.
Rakic, P. (1976). Prenatal genesis of connections subserving ocular dominance in the rhesus monkey. Nature, 261, 461–471.
Rakic, P. (1983). Geniculo-cortical connections in primates: normal and experimentally altered development. Prog. Brain Research, 58, 393–404.
Robinson, N.S., McCarty, M.E. & Haith, M.M. (1988). Visual expectations in early infancy. Paper presented at the International Conference on Infant Studies, Washington: D.C.
Rockland, K.S. & Pandya, D.N. (1979). Laminar origins and terminations of cortical connections of the occipital lobe in the rhesus monkey. Brain Research, 179, 3–20.
Schiller, P.H. (1985). A model for the generation of visually guided saccadic eye movements. In: D. Rose & V.G. Dobson (Eds.). Models of the Visual Cortex. Chicester: John Wiley Sons.
Slater, A., Morison, V. & Somers, M. (1988). Orientation discrimination and cortical function in the human newborn. Perception, 17, 597–602.
Stampalua, A. & Kostovic, I. (1981). The laminar organization of the superior colliculus (SC) in the human fetus. In: A. Huber & D. Klein (Eds.) Neurogenetics and Neuro-ophthalmology. North Holland: Elsevier.
Vinter, A. (1986). The role of movement in eliciting early imitations. Child Development, 57, 66–71.
Van Essen, D.C. (1985). functional organisation of primate visual cortex. In: A. Peters & E.G. Jones (Eds.,). Cerebral Cortex, Vol.3,. Plenum Publishing corp.
Von Hofsten, C. (1984). Developmental changes in the organisation of prereaching movements. Developmental Psychology, 20, 378–388.
Yakovlev, P.I. & Lecours, A. (1967). The myelogenetic cycles of regional maturation of the brain. In: A. Minokowski (Ed.). Regional Development of the Brain in Early Life. Philadelphia: Davis.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1990 Kluwer Academic Publishers
About this paper
Cite this paper
Johnson, M.H. (1990). Cortical Maturation and Perceptual Development. In: Bloch, H., Bertenthal, B.I. (eds) Sensory-Motor Organizations and Development in Infancy and Early Childhood. NATO ASI Series, vol 56. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2071-2_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2071-2_11
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-7430-8
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-2071-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive