The role of multisensory experience in the development of body representations

Imagine an infant discovering their feet. They may try to grab them, put them in their mouth, or use them to kick the mobile above their crib. This experience would result in sensations in several different sensory modalities. For example, the infant would see and feel touch on their feet when they use them to contact one of their toys, and at the same time they experience a change in proprioception - their sense of their body in space. This multisensory experience infants obtain through acting and interacting with the world is thought to play an important role in how they represent their own body. From very early in life, infants become increasingly familiar with the relationships between these sensory inputs, for example when observing their own hand while reaching for a toy, when touching their face while looking at their reflection, or while bouncing in their baby jumper in front of a mirror. With the current project we will test the idea that this multisensory experience plays a critical role in the development of infants' ability to accurately represent their body (i.e. body representations). Body representations enable us to interact with the world around us and are the building blocks of more advanced socio-cognitive skills (such as our sense of self). Previous studies have mainly focused on developmental differences between infants at different ages, but we go beyond this approach by training infants in well-controlled laboratory paradigms that simulate their natural learning experiences. We will target infants' representations of their own limbs, face, and the whole body. We will assess how multisensory training affects infants' representations of their own body both at the behavioural and neural level. Additionally, we will compare full-term infants with those born prematurely - who have greater multisensory experience but less developed brains - to understand the relative role of maturation and experience in body representation development. By investigating key parts of the body separately and holistically and by using established methods, this program of research has the potential to provide converging evidence for our account. The results of this project will have broad theoretical implications for our understanding of the origins of body representations and multisensory development. The findings of this project can also offer practical guidance for parents and clinicians on the types of sensory activities that can facilitate the development of body representations in both typically and atypically developing children. Furthermore, being able to represent one's own body is crucial for our ability to interact with others. Thus, by elucidating the mechanisms underlying the development of body representations our project can aid in designing effective interventions to improve understanding of one's own body, ultimately improving children's social and cognitive functioning.