The neonate brain detects speech structure.
The neonate brain detects speech structure.
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DOI：
10.1073/pnas.0806530105
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发表时间：
2008-09-16
影响因子：
11.1
通讯作者：
Mehler, Jacques
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Gervain, Judit;Macagno, Francesco;Mehler, Jacques
高效的语言学习能力让人类在很小的几年内就掌握了母语，其根源是什么？尽管之前的研究已经确定了较大婴儿和成人获得听觉和言语模式的不同机制，但最早的敏感性仍未被探索。为了解决这个问题，我们在两个光学脑成像实验中研究了新生儿学习简单的基于重复的结构的能力。在第一个实验中，22 名新生儿聆听包含立即重复的音节序列（ABB；例如“mubaba”、“penana”），并与随机控制序列（ABC；例如“mubage”、“penaku”）混合。我们发现颞叶和左额叶区域对重复序列的反应增加，表明新生儿大脑区分了这两种模式。在最初的几次试验中，重复序列比随机序列引起了更大的激活，这表明存在检测重复的自动感知机制。此外，在随后的试验中，激活对重复序列的响应进一步增加，但对随机序列的响应没有增加，这表明对 ABB 图案的识别通过重复暴露而增强。在第二个实验中，将不相邻的重复（ABA；例如“bamuba”、“napena”）与相同的随机对照进行对比，没有观察到歧视。这些发现表明，新生儿对听觉领域的某些输入配置很敏感，这种感知能力可能有助于以后的语言发展。
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.