Does cleft repair restore normal visual scanning and neural processing of infant faces?

Infant faces are an important cue for facilitating bonding and interactions with adult caregivers. Cues of poor infant health are associated with a lower degree of parental investment and facial malformations, in particular, have been shown to negatively impact early infant-caregiver interactions. Previous research has shown altered visual and neural processing for infant faces with cleft lip/palate. Although many infants with these facial malformations undergo craniofacial repair surgery, it is not yet known if/how this impacts perceptual responses to infants. The current study investigates the potential restorative effects of craniofacial repair surgery on perceptions of infant cuteness, visual attention to infant faces (eye tracking), and neural responses to infant faces (EEG). Craniofacial repair surgery is found to increase perceived cuteness, reduce visual attention to the mouth region, and influence early neural signatures of face processing (N170, P200 ERP components). As these various responses contribute to a number of important developmental aspects (e.g., joint attention) and may play a key role in the previously observed difficulties in caregiver-infant interactions, this study provides an important first step in determining the effectiveness of surgical interventions on the underlying perceptual mechanisms of infant face processing.