Facial affect and arousal as a complement to gaze measures in infant speech sound perception studies

This study explores infant facial expressions during visual habituation to investigate perceptual attunement to native and non-native speech sounds. Using automated facial affect analysis based on Facial Action Units, we analyzed valence, arousal, positive affect, and negative affect during the experiment. Valence and arousal decreased with habituation, while positive affect increased, with differences between native and non-native stimuli. Facial affect showed links to discrimination outcomes, with better native discrimination linked to reduced negative affect. These findings highlight the potential of facial expression analysis as a complementary tool to gaze-based measures in early language development research.

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Publication Details

Journal
Frontiers in Neural Circuits
Published
2025-05-30
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2025.1553918
Primary Topic
Language Development and Disorders
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Facial affect and arousal as a complement to gaze measures in infant speech sound perception studies

Sho Tsuji, Hiromichi Hagihara, Linda Polka, Irena Lovčević et al.
Frontiers in Neural Circuits
Language Development and Disorders
article

Facial affect and arousal as a complement to gaze measures in infant speech sound perception studies

Sho Tsuji, Hiromichi Hagihara, Linda Polka, Irena Lovčević, Fernanda Alonso, Nanako Kimura
article en

Abstract

This study explores infant facial expressions during visual habituation to investigate perceptual attunement to native and non-native speech sounds. Using automated facial affect analysis based on Facial Action Units, we analyzed valence, arousal, positive affect, and negative affect during the experiment. Valence and arousal decreased with habituation, while positive affect increased, with differences between native and non-native stimuli. Facial affect showed links to discrimination outcomes, with better native discrimination linked to reduced negative affect. These findings highlight the potential of facial expression analysis as a complementary tool to gaze-based measures in early language development research.

Frontiers in Neural CircuitsVol. 19
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (FR), École Normale Supérieure - PSL (FR), Osaka University of Human Sciences (JP), Centre for Research on Brain Language and Music (CA), Laboratoire de Sciences Cognitives et Psycholinguistique (FR), The University of Tokyo (JP), École des hautes études en sciences sociales (FR)
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Reduced inequalities
Openalex Percentile: Top 88%
Language Development and Disorders
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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Facial affect and arousal as a complement to gaze measures in infant speech sound perception studies — Sho Tsuji, Hiromichi Hagihara, et al. · Frontiers in Neural Circuits (2025) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS