At 8 months, we see a switch in the direction of the response, with the younger 8-month-olds showing an enhanced response to predictable touches, and older 8-month-olds to unpredictable touches. 4/n

We recorded the babies’ EEG and measured their SEPs in response to the touches (visual aspects of the response were removed via a difference wave calculation). At 4 months of age we found a sustained larger response for touch following approaching visual motion, i.e. predictable touch. 3/n

We presented babies aged 4 and 8 months with short videos of balls moving towards or away from them. We made sure they were not visually tracking the moving objects, but focusing on an animal character on the screen. The motion was followed – after a gap - by short vibrations on the hands. 2/n

Curious about how babies learn about the links between their body and the space around them? Our new paper in Scientific Reports looks at how and when infants start to be able to predict that an object moving towards them will touch them. A 🧵 nature.com/articles/s41...
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