Facial Recognition Among Infants during COVID-19

In Conte et. al’s paper, “Face-sensitive brain responses in the first year of life,” they are interested in whether the same areas of the brain are involved with processing faces that are used in the adult stages of life. Even though infants do not have nearly the same mental capacity as adults do, they are still capable of recognizing faces just like adults can. It is known that the N170 ERP is involved with facial processing in adults (Conte et. al, p. 1). In their study they compared ERPs in infants for both faces and objects. They examined infants among four different age categories: 4.5, 6, 8, and 12 months. In their study they looked at four components of the facial processing system: P1, N290, P400 and Nc. Among these components, the face stimuli “selectively influenced the activity of the P1 ERP component by eliciting larger P1 peak responses than objects,” and the N290 had a similar result; however, the P400 and Nc had amplitudes increasing with age but there was no difference between that of objects and faces (Conte et. al, p. 7, 12, 14). So, with this study, one may begin to think about how mask wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic will affect these infants facial recognition capabilities.

The first year of life is a crucial development phase. As discussed in Conte et. al’s paper, infants are showing evidence of facial recognition by the age of three months (p. 2). In a recent article published in the Journal of Neonatal Nursing : JNN, they discuss the potential consequences that could come about from wearing face masks while caring for infants. They say that wearing a face mask “may affect the infant’s ability to develop facial processing and orientating to or focusing on another person’s face” (Green, et. al, p. 24). Infants must depend on others in their lives to take care of them. They should normally be able to “perceive, recognise and distinguish the familiar from the unfamiliar, and people from inanimate objects” as these are key development points in the infant (Green, et. al, p. 23). With the majority of a person’s face being hidden behind a mask, it could be detrimental to an infant’s development regarding facial recognition.

So, it’s not to say that face masks should not be worn around infants, but as mentioned in the neonatal journal there are a few ways to possibly minimize the potential effects of a face mask. Some of which include talking to the baby with the mask on, only wearing the mask when absolutely necessary, and being more expressive with your eyes and eyebrows when interacting with the baby (Green et. al, p. 24). With the ongoing occurrence of the pandemic, it would be interesting to see a future paper published regarding the effect that face masks have on facial recognition in babies. To relate to Conte et. al’s paper, one could possibly study the ERPs of those essential components and compare them to the babies who grew up in a normal environment without the face masks. Furthermore, it would even be fascinating to look at the long term effects these children may have regarding emotional processing or even building relationships with others.

Works Cited

Conte, Stefania, et al. “Face-Sensitive Brain Responses in the First Year of Life.” NeuroImage, Academic Press, 8 Feb. 2020, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/ S1053811920300896?via%3Dihub.

Green, Janet, et al. “The Implications of Face Masks for Babies and Families during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Discussion Paper.” Journal of Neonatal Nursing : JNN, Neonatal Nurses Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd., 27 Feb. 2021, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7598570/.