Highlights

Abstract

Keywords

Introduction

Method

Results

Discussion

Conclusions

Acknowledgments

Author contributions

Appendix A. Supplementary material

References

Abstract

Did I make that sound? Differentiating whether sensory events are caused by us or the environment is pivotal for our sense of agency. Adults can predict the sensory effects of their actions, which results in attenuated processing of self-produced events compared with externally generated events. Yet, little is known about whether young infants predict and discriminate self-produced events from externally produced events. Using electroencephalography (EEG), 3-month-olds’ neural response to the same audiovisual stimulus was compared between a Self-produced condition and externally generated conditions with predictable timing (External–Regular) and irregular timing (External–Irregular). We hypothesized that if 3-month-olds predict self-produced events, their event-related potentials should be smallest for the Self-produced condition, strongest for the External–Irregular condition, and in between for the External–Regular condition. Cluster-based permutation tests indicated a more positive deflection (300–۴۷۰ ms) for irregular stimuli compared with regular stimuli over the vertex. Contrasting the Self-produced and External–Irregular conditions showed a statistical trend within the same time window. Although not fully conclusive, this might suggest the emerging differentiation between self-produced and less predictable external events. However, there was no statistical evidence that infants differentiated self-produced events from temporally predictable external events.

Introduction

The sense of agency is the sense that one’s own actions cause effects in the environment. How the sense of agency develops during infancy has long fascinated developmental scientists, philosophers, and new parents alike. The sense of agency is ubiquitous during adulthood and is fundamental for becoming an intentional agent during early childhood, likely forming the basis for infants to learn from and about other intentional agents (Meltzoff, 2007). One defining element of the sense of agency is the ability to distinguish one’s own actions and their effects from external events in the world (Tsakiris, Schütz-Bosbach, & Gallagher, 2007). Research with adults suggests that predicting the sensory effects of one’s actions plays an important role in discriminating self-produced events from externally generated events (e.g., Blakemore, Wolpert, & Frith, 2000; Hughes, Desantis, & Waszak, 2012). As such, the phenomenon that we cannot tickle ourselves illustrates not only that we perceive selfproduced effects differently from other sensory input but also that we process the sensory effects of our own actions in an attenuated fashion. This phenomenon can be explained by our precise prediction of the tactile input when trying to tickle ourselves that attenuates the tickling sensation (Blakemore et al., 2000).