Skip to main content

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASID,volume 56))

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.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 259.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 329.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 329.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

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.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Google Scholar 

  • Atkinson, J. (1984). Human visual development over the first six months of life: a review and a hypothesis. Human Neurobiology, 3, 61–74.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Atkinson, J., Hood, B., Wattam-Bell, J., Anker, S. & Tricklebank, J. (1988). Development of orientation discrimination in infants. Perception, 17, 587–595.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bower, T.G.R. (1974). Development in Infancy. San Francisco: Freeman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bronson, G.W. (1974). The postnatal growth of visual capacity. Child Development, 45, 873–890.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Conel, J.L. (1939–1967). The Postnatal Development of the Human Cerebral Cortex, Vols. I–VIII. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • 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..

    Google Scholar 

  • DeYoe, E.A. & Van Essen, D.C. (1989). Concurrent processing streams in monkey visual cortex. TINS, 11, 219–226.

    Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Granger, R., Ambrose-Ingerson, J. & Lynch, G. (1989). Derivation of encoding characteristics of layer II cerebral cortex. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 1, 61–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, M.H. (1988). Memories of mother. New Scientist, 1600, 60–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, M.H. (1989). Cortical maturation and the development of visual attention in early infancy. London: MRC Cognitive Development Unit.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, M.H. (in press) Information processing and storage during filial imprinting. In: P.G. Hepper (Ed.). Kin Recognition. Cambridge: Cambridge University press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, M.H. & Morton, J. (in press). The Development of Face Recognition, Oxford: Blackwells.

    Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, M.H., Dziurawiec, S., Ellis, H.D. & Morton, J. (Submitted for publication). Newborns’ preferential tracking of face-like stimuli and its subsequent decline.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kolb, B. (1989). Brain development, plasticity, and behavior. American Psychologist, 44, 1203–1212.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Leuba, G. & Garey, L.J. (1982). A morphometric developmental study of dendrites in the lateral geniculate of the monkey. Neurosci. 7, (suppl) 131.

    Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Maurer, D. & Barrera, M. (1981). Infants’ perception of natural and distorted arrangements of a schematic face. Child Development, 47, 523–527.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maurer, D. & Lewis, T.L. (1979). A physiological explanation of infants’ early visual development. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 33, 232–252.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Maurer, D. & Young, R.E. (1983). Newborns’ following of natural and distorted arrangements of facial features. Infant Behavior & Development, 6, 127–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClelland, J. & Rumelhart, D. (1986). Parallel Distributed Processing. Vol. 2. Cambridge MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGraw, M.B. (1943). The neuromuscular maturation of the human infant. New York: Columbia University press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morton, J. & Johnson, M.H. (Submitted for publication). Conspec and Conlern: A two-process theory of infant face recognition.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morton, J., Johnson, M.H. & Maurer, D. (in press) On the reasons for newborns responses to faces. Infant Behavior & Development,

    Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Google Scholar 

  • Posner, M.I. & Rothbart, M.K. (1989). Attention: normal and pathological development. University of Oregon Institute of Cognitive & Decision Sciences Report No. 89-11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rakic, P. (1976). Prenatal genesis of connections subserving ocular dominance in the rhesus monkey. Nature, 261, 461–471.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rakic, P. (1983). Geniculo-cortical connections in primates: normal and experimentally altered development. Prog. Brain Research, 58, 393–404.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Google Scholar 

  • Slater, A., Morison, V. & Somers, M. (1988). Orientation discrimination and cortical function in the human newborn. Perception, 17, 597–602.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vinter, A. (1986). The role of movement in eliciting early imitations. Child Development, 57, 66–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Google Scholar 

  • Von Hofsten, C. (1984). Developmental changes in the organisation of prereaching movements. Developmental Psychology, 20, 378–388.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints 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

Publish with us

Policies and ethics