A physiological explanation of infants' early visual development

Proposes a physiological explanation of infants' early visual development based on recent evidence that the cat's visual system contains at least 3 separate pathways that subserve different functions and develop at different rates. Several lines of evidence suggest the same is true in humans. Data from human newborns suggest that at birth, 2 of these pathways (the X-pathway to the cortex and the Y-pathway directly to the superior colliculus and pretecturm) are functional, but that the third, the Y-pathway to the cortex, is not. Striking changes at 2 mo appear to reflect the dawning influence of that Y-pathway to the cortex. (French abstract) (5 p ref)