Social cues - like smiles, humming, speech, singing - are the initial cement that will bind together the baby with its mother, father, sibling, and broader social circle. But how do they come to detect these cues and which do they prefer from the myriad of options available? 

To answer this question, we combine behavioural observations (for example, what does the child look at most, or their preferred play activities) with information recorded with child-friendly neuroimaging techniques that allow us to see how the child's brain responds to what they hear and see. 

While usually in research studies children are shown a range of stimuli the researchers think will be interesting for them, in this study we will ask what the child thinks is interesting. Just as we normally do when we play with a child and we select the next toy or game based on what he/she was excited about previously, the same we will do in this study while recording neuroimaging data. Babies will only be asked to watch child-friendly images, videos, or scenes while wearing a cap on his/her head that allows us to see brain responses. A computer program will process this neuroimaging data immediately so that we can use it in real-time to find out what each child is most interested in. 

This study will help further our understanding of why infants choose to socialise and what can be done to help them develop this skill. We will be able to see what each child spontaneously chooses from a range of child-friendly stimuli. In the future, this will help us to plan possible interventions aimed to facilitate the development of brain regions that are important for social interactions.