Cross-paradigm fNIRS brain activity in 1-month-old infants across The Gambia and the United Kingdom.

ABSTRACT:

Significance

Neonates undergo rapid development, yet the examination of emerging brain markers across paradigms, cognitive domains, and diverse global populations remains limited.

Aim

We investigated whether brain responses at 1 month of age could be interrogated across paradigms to offer deeper context-specific insights into neurodevelopment.

Approach

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy was used to assess frontal and temporal brain responses during natural sleep in 181 infants from a low-income setting (rural Gambia) and 58 infants from a higher-income setting (Cambridge, United Kingdom) during three auditory paradigms: social selectivity, habituation and novelty detection, and functional connectivity. Paradigm-level brain responses were analyzed using threshold-fr

SUBMITTER: Greenhalgh I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12831619 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature