How the Baby Learns to See: Critical Periods Re-visited

titleHow the Baby Learns to See: Critical Periods Re-visited
start_date2024/04/29
schedule14h30-16h
onlineno
location_infoSalle U209
summaryNewborns have very limited vision. Yet they are already learning to see. We discovered this when we took advantage of a natural experiment: children born with dense cataracts in one or both eyes that blocked all patterned visual input until the cataracts were removed during infancy and the eyes given compensatory contact lenses. Even when the babies missed only a few months of visual input, they later developed a host of deficits in both low-level (e.g., acuity, peripheral vision), and high-level (e.g., perceiving the direction of motion, face processing) vision. Important clues about the developmental mechanisms come from recent studies of other senses after early visual deprivation. Overall, the results indicate that perceptual development is driven by visual experience and perturbed by imbalances, be they between the eyes or between the senses. Nevertheless, there is residual plasticity in adulthood that allows some recovery.
responsiblesMamassian