title: Oscillatory Activity in the Infant Brain and the Representation of Small Numbers.
abstract: Gamma-band oscillatory activity (GBA) is an established neural signature of sustained occluded object representation in infants and adults. However, it is not yet known whether the magnitude of GBA in the infant brain reflects the quantity of occluded items held in memory. To examine this, we compared GBA of 6-8 month-old infants during occlusion periods after the representation of two objects vs. that of one object. We found that maintaining a representation of two objects during occlusion resulted in significantly greater GBA relative to maintaining a single object. Further, this enhancement was located in the right occipital region, which is consistent with previous object representation research in adults and infants. We conclude that enhanced GBA reflects neural processes underlying infants' representation of small numbers.
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health, Arts and Design, Swinburne University of Technology Hawthorn, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Sumie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.affiliation: Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London London, UK.
authors.forename: Denis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mareschal
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health, Arts and Design, Swinburne University of Technology Hawthorn, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Renee
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rowsell
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health, Arts and Design, Swinburne University of Technology Hawthorn, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Simpson
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health, Arts and Design, Swinburne University of Technology Hawthorn, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Leon
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Iaria
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health, Arts and Design, Swinburne University of Technology Hawthorn, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grbic
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health, Arts and Design, Swinburne University of Technology Hawthorn, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Jordy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kaufman
keywords: electroencephalogram; gamma-band activity; infancy; object permanence; object processing; small numbers