Developmental change in facial recognition by premature infants during infancy

OBJECTIVE: Premature infants are thought to be at increased risk for developmental disorders. We evaluated facial recognition by premature infants during early infancy, as this ability has been reported to be impaired commonly in developmentally disabled children. METHODS: In premature infants and full-term infants at the age of 4 months (4 corrected months for premature infants), visual behaviors while performing facial recognition tasks were determined and analyzed using an eye-tracking system (Tobii T60 manufactured by Tobii Technologics, Sweden). RESULTS: Both types of infants had a preference towards normal facial expressions; however, no preference towards the upper face was observed in premature infants. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that facial recognition ability in premature infants may develop differently from that in full-term infants.