Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id HAA20339 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Mon, 27 Nov 2000 07:09:04 GMT Message-Id: <200011270706.CAA17393@mail3.lig.bellsouth.net> From: "Joe E. Dees" <joedees@bellsouth.net> To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Date: Mon, 27 Nov 2000 01:11:22 -0600 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: Re: virus: When babies 'see' In-reply-to: <000901c057e1$02c16220$0200a8c0@hermit.net> X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.01b) Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
From: "TheHermit \(E-mail\)" <CarlW@lisco.com>
To: "Virus@Lucifer. Com \(E-mail\)" <virus@lucifer.com>
Subject: virus: When babies 'see'
Date sent: Sun, 26 Nov 2000 13:42:27 -0600
Send reply to: virus@lucifer.com
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1037000/1037328.stm
>
> [Hermit: Visit the site to see the "Hairnet"
>
> When babies 'see'
>
> By the BBC's technology correspondent Christine McGourty
>
> Babies start to see complex objects in the same way as adults at the age of
> seven months, according to new research.
>
> The findings provide a new insight into how babies' brains develop and could
> ultimately lead to a better understanding of developmental problems in
> children.
>
[Joe: this experimentally confirms the introspectively apodictic
phenomenological dictum that perception develops prior to and is a
sine qua non for, conception. The idea actually dates back to
Immanuel Kant and his "Conception without perception is empty,
perception without conception is blind."]
>
> Scientists at Birkbeck College, London, used a hi-tech hair net and a type
> of computer game to learn more about what is going on in a baby's brain.
>
> The aim was to find out when infants gain the crucial ability to group
> together different features of an object to form the whole.
>
> Visual illusion
>
> To do this, the researchers used a visual illusion known as the Kanizsa
> Square. It involves a group of four shapes resembling the Pacman from the
> early computer game.
>
> When placed in a particular way, the pieces create the illusion of a square,
> to the adult brain at least. The scientists wanted to find out when babies
> start to see the square too.
>
> The special headpiece used in the research is called a geodesic sensor net.
> It fits over the head like a shower cap and is a safe and child-friendly way
> of monitoring electrical activity in the brain.
>
> If the babies see the square, the net will pick up a burst of brain activity
> known as a gamma oscillation.
>
> The researchers report in Science magazine that they found no sign of the
> brain signals in six-month-old babies, but did detect it in
> eight-month-olds, indicating that the crucial developmental process takes
> place around the seven month mark.
>
> Development clues
>
> Dr Gergely Csibra, the lead researcher in the team said: "Understanding how
> an infant brain develops is obviously fascinating and may have implications
> for the education and care of babies.
>
> "This new work not only tells us that babies as young as eight months
> recognise complex objects in the same way an adult does, but also allows us
> to think of new studies into early infant development.
>
> "The difference between six- and eight-month-old babies is also intriguing
> and may show that there is an important development in how the brain
> organises information from the outside world at that age."
>
> The team has studied only healthy babies so far but hopes the research may
> provide clues as to why some babies are not developing normally.
>
> "We're interesting in understanding normal development of children as well
> as how brain damage during development may affect our perception, awareness
> and action," said Dr Greg Davis, also on the research team.
>
> "This could in principle be used to understand disorders of perception and
> attention that arise in development."
>
>
>
>
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