Social Smiling and Laughter Are Linked to Enhanced Functional Brain Connectivity in Young Infants’ Default Mode Network
Developmental Psychobiology September 1, 2025 O. Allison, Caroline M. Kelsey, Tobias Grossmann
Abstract The current study used functional near‐infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to investigate whether and how individual differences in positive social engagement among 5‐month‐old (N = 109; N = 35 final sample) infants relate to variability in functional connectivity in the human brain's Default‐Mode Network (DMN). Neuroimaging results showed that on average infants displayed greater functional...