Babies’ Brains Rehearse Speech Mechanics Months Before They Speak

University of Washington (UW) research in 7- and 11-month-old infants shows that speech sounds stimulate areas of the brain that coordinate and plan motor movements for speech. The study, recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that baby brains start laying down the groundwork of how to form words long before they actually begin to speak, and this may affect the developmental transition. In the experiment, infants were assessed using magnetoencephalography (MEG). The UW’s Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences was the first in the world to use MEG scans to study babies while they engaged in a task. The babies, 57 7- and 11- or 12-month-olds, each listened to a series of native and foreign language syllables, such as “da” and “ta,” as researchers recorded brain responses. The researchers observed brain activity in the superior temporal gyrus, as well as in Broca’s area and the cerebellum. This pattern of brain activation occurred for sounds in the 7-month-olds’ native language (English), as well as in a non-native language (Spanish), showing that at this early age infants are responding to all speech sounds. By 11-12 months, however, infants’ brains increase motor activation to the non-native speech sounds relative to native speech, which the researchers interpret as showing that it takes more effort for the baby brain to predict which movements create non-native speech. To learn more about the study, click here.