AP21761

Months before their first words, babies' brains rehearse speech mechanics

New research in infants show that speech sounds arouse areas of the brain that direct and plan motor movements for speech. This new study conducted by Washington University, on infants 7 months old and 11 months old, proposes that babies start laying down the foundation of how to form words long before they actually begin to speak. Most babies start to “babble” (pg259) around 7 months old and utter complete words around one year of age. This study had a sample size of (57) 7 and 11 month-olds, which each listened to native and foreign syllables while researchers recorded brain responses. In the experiment, infants sat in a brain scanner that measures brain activation through a noninvasive technique called Magnetoencephalography. Brain activity in the superior temporal gyrus, Broca’s area, and the cerebellum (pg45) was noted in 7 month-old infants, while 11 month-old infants brain activity was documented as different. Researchers noted this difference as the 11 month-old infants are thinking of the foreign sound and how to make the foreign syllable sound itself, which 7 month-old infants do not distinguish between the native and foreign syllable. The study suggests that slow and exaggerated “parentese” speech may perhaps prompt infants to try to make utterances themselves and mimic what they heard. I find this study to be interesting, I believe this would be the perfect time to begin teaching specifically one's native language plus a foreign language. At 11 months of age children should be prompted to converse by family to help develop correct speech and word patterns.

University of Washington. "Months before their first words, babies' brains rehearse speech mechanics." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 14 July 2014. .

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