The neonate brain detects speech structure. Gervain, J., Macagno, F., Cogoi, S., Peña, M., & Mehler, J. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 105(37):14222-7, 2008. doi abstract bibtex What are the origins of the efficient language learning abilities that allow humans to acquire their mother tongue in just a few years very early in life? Although previous studies have identified different mechanisms underlying the acquisition of auditory and speech patterns in older infants and adults, the earliest sensitivities remain unexplored. To address this issue, we investigated the ability of newborns to learn simple repetition-based structures in two optical brain-imaging experiments. In the first experiment, 22 neonates listened to syllable sequences containing immediate repetitions (ABB; e.g., "mubaba," "penana"), intermixed with random control sequences (ABC; e.g., "mubage," "penaku"). We found increased responses to the repetition sequences in the temporal and left frontal areas, indicating that the newborn brain differentiated the two patterns. The repetition sequences evoked greater activation than the random sequences during the first few trials, suggesting the presence of an automatic perceptual mechanism to detect repetitions. In addition, over the subsequent trials, activation increased further in response to the repetition sequences but not in response to the random sequences, indicating that recognition of the ABB pattern was enhanced by repeated exposure. In the second experiment, in which nonadjacent repetitions (ABA; e.g., "bamuba," "napena") were contrasted with the same random controls, no discrimination was observed. These findings suggest that newborns are sensitive to certain input configurations in the auditory domain, a perceptual ability that might facilitate later language development.
@Article{Gervain2008,
author = {Judit Gervain and Francesco Macagno and Silvia Cogoi and Marcela Pe\~{n}a and Jacques Mehler},
journal = {Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A},
title = {The neonate brain detects speech structure.},
year = {2008},
number = {37},
pages = {14222-7},
volume = {105},
abstract = {What are the origins of the efficient language learning abilities
that allow humans to acquire their mother tongue in just a few years
very early in life? Although previous studies have identified different
mechanisms underlying the acquisition of auditory and speech patterns
in older infants and adults, the earliest sensitivities remain unexplored.
To address this issue, we investigated the ability of newborns to
learn simple repetition-based structures in two optical brain-imaging
experiments. In the first experiment, 22 neonates listened to syllable
sequences containing immediate repetitions (ABB; e.g., "mubaba,"
"penana"), intermixed with random control sequences (ABC; e.g., "mubage,"
"penaku"). We found increased responses to the repetition sequences
in the temporal and left frontal areas, indicating that the newborn
brain differentiated the two patterns. The repetition sequences evoked
greater activation than the random sequences during the first few
trials, suggesting the presence of an automatic perceptual mechanism
to detect repetitions. In addition, over the subsequent trials, activation
increased further in response to the repetition sequences but not
in response to the random sequences, indicating that recognition
of the ABB pattern was enhanced by repeated exposure. In the second
experiment, in which nonadjacent repetitions (ABA; e.g., "bamuba,"
"napena") were contrasted with the same random controls, no discrimination
was observed. These findings suggest that newborns are sensitive
to certain input configurations in the auditory domain, a perceptual
ability that might facilitate later language development.},
doi = {10.1073/pnas.0806530105},
keywords = {Brain Diseases, Female, Humans, Infant, Male, Newborn, Speech, 18768785},
}
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Although previous studies have identified different mechanisms underlying the acquisition of auditory and speech patterns in older infants and adults, the earliest sensitivities remain unexplored. To address this issue, we investigated the ability of newborns to learn simple repetition-based structures in two optical brain-imaging experiments. In the first experiment, 22 neonates listened to syllable sequences containing immediate repetitions (ABB; e.g., \"mubaba,\" \"penana\"), intermixed with random control sequences (ABC; e.g., \"mubage,\" \"penaku\"). We found increased responses to the repetition sequences in the temporal and left frontal areas, indicating that the newborn brain differentiated the two patterns. The repetition sequences evoked greater activation than the random sequences during the first few trials, suggesting the presence of an automatic perceptual mechanism to detect repetitions. In addition, over the subsequent trials, activation increased further in response to the repetition sequences but not in response to the random sequences, indicating that recognition of the ABB pattern was enhanced by repeated exposure. In the second experiment, in which nonadjacent repetitions (ABA; e.g., \"bamuba,\" \"napena\") were contrasted with the same random controls, no discrimination was observed. These findings suggest that newborns are sensitive to certain input configurations in the auditory domain, a perceptual ability that might facilitate later language development.","doi":"10.1073/pnas.0806530105","keywords":"Brain Diseases, Female, Humans, Infant, Male, Newborn, Speech, 18768785","bibtex":"@Article{Gervain2008,\n author = {Judit Gervain and Francesco Macagno and Silvia Cogoi and Marcela Pe\\~{n}a and Jacques Mehler},\n journal = {Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A},\n title = {The neonate brain detects speech structure.},\n year = {2008},\n number = {37},\n pages = {14222-7},\n volume = {105},\n abstract = {What are the origins of the efficient language learning abilities\n\tthat allow humans to acquire their mother tongue in just a few years\n\tvery early in life? Although previous studies have identified different\n\tmechanisms underlying the acquisition of auditory and speech patterns\n\tin older infants and adults, the earliest sensitivities remain unexplored.\n\tTo address this issue, we investigated the ability of newborns to\n\tlearn simple repetition-based structures in two optical brain-imaging\n\texperiments. In the first experiment, 22 neonates listened to syllable\n\tsequences containing immediate repetitions (ABB; e.g., \"mubaba,\"\n\t\"penana\"), intermixed with random control sequences (ABC; e.g., \"mubage,\"\n\t\"penaku\"). We found increased responses to the repetition sequences\n\tin the temporal and left frontal areas, indicating that the newborn\n\tbrain differentiated the two patterns. The repetition sequences evoked\n\tgreater activation than the random sequences during the first few\n\ttrials, suggesting the presence of an automatic perceptual mechanism\n\tto detect repetitions. In addition, over the subsequent trials, activation\n\tincreased further in response to the repetition sequences but not\n\tin response to the random sequences, indicating that recognition\n\tof the ABB pattern was enhanced by repeated exposure. In the second\n\texperiment, in which nonadjacent repetitions (ABA; e.g., \"bamuba,\"\n\t\"napena\") were contrasted with the same random controls, no discrimination\n\twas observed. These findings suggest that newborns are sensitive\n\tto certain input configurations in the auditory domain, a perceptual\n\tability that might facilitate later language development.},\n doi = {10.1073/pnas.0806530105},\n keywords = {Brain Diseases, Female, Humans, Infant, Male, Newborn, Speech, 18768785},\n}\n\n","author_short":["Gervain, J.","Macagno, F.","Cogoi, S.","Peña, M.","Mehler, J."],"key":"Gervain2008","id":"Gervain2008","bibbaseid":"gervain-macagno-cogoi-pea-mehler-theneonatebraindetectsspeechstructure-2008","role":"author","urls":{},"keyword":["Brain Diseases","Female","Humans","Infant","Male","Newborn","Speech","18768785"],"metadata":{"authorlinks":{}}},"bibtype":"article","biburl":"https://endress.org/publications/ansgar.bib","dataSources":["xPGxHAeh3vZpx4yyE","TXa55dQbNoWnaGmMq"],"keywords":["brain diseases","female","humans","infant","male","newborn","speech","18768785"],"search_terms":["neonate","brain","detects","speech","structure","gervain","macagno","cogoi","peña","mehler"],"title":"The neonate brain detects speech structure.","year":2008}