A new study suggests that babies are able to distinguish between the different objects they see around them at 2 months old, which is earlier than scientists previously thought.The findings, published Monday in Nature Neuroscience, may help doctors and researchers better understand cognitive development in infancy.“It really tells us that infants are interacting with the world in a lot more complex of a way than we might imagine,” said lead author Cliona O’Doherty. “Looking at a 2-month-old, we maybe wouldn’t think that they’re understanding the world to that level.”The study looked at data from 130 2-month-olds who underwent brain scans while awake. The babies viewed images from a dozen categories commonly seen in the first year of life, such as trees and animals. When babies looked at an image like a cat, their brains might “fire” a certain way that researchers could record, O'Doherty said. If they looked at an inanimate object, their brains would fire differently.The technique — known as functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI — allowed scientists to examine visual function more precisely than in the past. Many previous studies relied on how long an infant looked at an object, which can be difficult to assess at younger ages. Some of those past studies suggested that infants as young as 3 to 4 months could distinguish between categories such as animals and furniture.“What we’re showing is that they really already have this ability to group together categories at two months,” O'Doherty said. “So it’s something much more complex than we would’ve thought before.”In the new study, many of the babies returned at 9 months, and researchers successfully collected data from 66 of them. In the 9-month-olds, the brain was able to distinguish living things from inanimate objects much more strongly than in the 2-month-olds, O'Doherty said.Someday, researchers said, scientists may be able to connect such brain imaging to cognitive outcomes later in life.Liuba Papeo, a neuroscientist at the National Center for Scientific Research in France, said the number of babies in the study is one thing that makes the work “impressive and unique.” Brain imaging with very young infants presents challenges.“One — perhaps the most obvious — is that the infant needs to (lie) comfortably in the fMRI scanner while awake without moving," she said in an email.O’Doherty, who did the work at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland, said the key was making the experience as comfortable as possible for the babies. Inside the scanner, they reclined on a bean bag so they were snug.The images “appear really big above them while they’re lying down,” she said. "It's like IMAX for babies.”

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Jazz Pharmaceuticals PLC (NASDAQ:JAZZ – Free Report) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research raised their Q1 2027 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Jazz Pharmaceuticals in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, February 2nd. Zacks Research analyst Team now anticipates that the specialty pharmaceutical company will post earnings per [...]

Jazz Pharmaceuticals PLC (NASDAQ:JAZZ – Free Report) – Zacks Research lifted their Q1 2027 earnings estimates for Jazz Pharmaceuticals in a research note issued to investors on Monday, February 2nd. Zacks Research analyst Team now anticipates that the specialty pharmaceutical company will post earnings of $3.82 per share for the quarter, up from their prior [...]

Tsfg LLC increased its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV – Free Report) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 123,432 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,250 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for approximately 4.5% [...]

Pettee Investors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV – Free Report) by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 13,995 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,580 shares during the quarter. AbbVie comprises approximately 1.8% of Pettee Investors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th [...]

Tsfg LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV – Free Report) by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 123,432 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,250 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises about 4.5% of [...]

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) is one of the stocks on Jim Cramer’s recent game plan. Cramer highlighted what “drives the stock,” as he remarked: Wednesday morning, Eli Lilly reports. Its earnings haven’t been the propellant here. What drives the stock are new reports on GLP-1 clinical trials. But Lilly could announce some new data, [...]

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Free Report) by 5.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,381,807 shares of the company’s stock after selling 201,108 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial [...]

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Free Report) by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,381,807 shares of the company’s stock after selling 201,108 shares during the period. Principal [...]