The Role of Maternal Sensory Stimulation on Postnatal Development of Language and Communication Skills in Extremely Preterm Infants

非常早产的婴儿要接受广泛的住院治疗，在此期间，他们被剥夺了在子宫中原本会得到的母性声音刺激。这一群体通常面临语言迟缓和其他发育障碍。由于早产儿与晚期胎儿的胎龄相同，早产儿提供了一个独特的机会来研究产前暴露于母亲活动的不同方面如何影响语言和认知发展。研究人员的目标是调查母亲的感觉刺激是否以及何种类型的刺激在出生后的发展中促进学习和语言技能的发展。该项目将对新生儿重症监护病房(NICU)孵化器内的感觉环境进行实验调节，以介绍胎儿产前感觉体验的不同方面。在NICU期间，婴儿将通过声音(听觉)、振动(触觉)或两者兼而有之，体验母体声音的日常传播。对后续语言发展的影响将通过两年多的纵向跟踪来检验。研究结果将揭示语言和感觉环境对人类早期发育的影响。从拟议的研究中获得的数据将提供证据，以澄清语言发展在充分怀孕之前就开始的程度。这项工作还可以为开发廉价、非侵入性的方法来改善早产儿的健康发育提供信息。早产儿占美国新生儿总数的12%，他们面临着非典型语言和认知结果的风险。

Infants born extremely prematurely undergo extensive hospitalization, during which they are deprived of the maternal voice stimulation they would otherwise receive in utero. This population is typically faced with language delays and other developmental disabilities. Because premature infants are the same gestational age as late-stage fetuses, the premature newborn presents a unique opportunity to investigate how different aspects of prenatal exposure to maternal activity may influence language and cognitive development. The researchers aim to investigate whether and what types of maternal sensory stimulation promote generalization of learning and development of language skills in postnatal development. This project will experimentally modulate the sensory environment inside the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) incubator to introduce different aspects of the fetus's prenatal sensory experience. Infants will experience daily transmission of maternal voice via either sounds (auditory), vibrations (tactile), or both during their stay in the NICU. The effect on subsequent language development will be examined through longitudinal follow up over two years. Results will inform the impact of linguistic and sensory environment on early human development. Data obtained from the proposed study will provide evidence to clarify the extent to which language development begins before full gestation. The work could also inform the development of inexpensive, non-intrusive methods for improving healthy development of preterm infants, who make up 12% of births in the US and are at risk for atypical language and cognitive outcomes.