Neurophysiological correlates of the extraction of linguistically relevant rules from the auditory input during the course of development

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The present proposal suggests to investigate the extraction of non-adjacent dependencies between syllables from speech input using the mismatch negativity (MMN) paradigm. The MMN is an event-related potential (ERP) related to the auditory discrimination of rare deviant from highly frequent standard stimuli. It has been shown that auditory memory processes tracking repetitions and more complex relations between concrete and abstract stimulus features are reflected in the MMN component. Due to these properties the MMN is an interesting tool for the study of the acquisition of linguistic rules. As a test case for a linguistically relevant rule, the project proposes to investigate the extraction of non-adjacent dependencies between syllables using the MMN paradigm. Therefore, six ERP studies and one MEG study with adult participants and six ERP studies with infants in the first six months of life are planned. The studies will shed new light on temporal and spatial characteristics of non-adjacent dependency learning in the brain with a specific focus on properties such as automaticity, robustness in a variable acoustic environment, phonological influences and the developmental time course in early infancy. Further, psychometric tests will be used to capture potential interindividual differences concerning the ability to track non-adjacent dependencies in speech input. With this approach, the project will advance the understanding of the neurocognitive basis of basic language learning processes - a research field which is still in its infancy.