Neural processing of rhythmic structures and sound symbolism in infant-directed speech

成年人通常以一种特殊的言语模式称呼婴儿，称为婴儿导向言语（IDS）。IDS具有独特的韵律特征。例如，高音调，慢和超发音）和一个特殊的词汇（“婴儿谈话”）。在这里，我们调查了成人大脑的哪些区域参与处理IDS，IDS的哪些方面（韵律或词汇）被处理，在多大程度上作为父母的经验会影响成人处理IDS的方式，以及性别和个性对IDS处理的影响。使用功能性磁共振成像，我们发现，母亲与preverbal婴儿表现出增强激活的听觉背侧通路的语言领域，无论他们是否听取了韵律或词汇成分的IDS。我们还发现，外向的母亲在与语言相关的运动区域表现出更高的皮质激活比外向性格得分较低的母亲。增加皮质激活水平没有发现父亲，非父母，或母亲与年龄较大的孩子。

Adults typically address infants in a special speech mode called infant-directed speech(IDS). IDS is characterized by a special prosody(i. e., higher pitched, slower and hyperarticulated) and a special lexicon( "baby talk"). Here we investigated which areas of the adult brain are involved in processing IDS, which aspects of IDS(prosodic or lexical) are processed, to what extent the experience of being a parent affects the way adults process IDS, and the effects of gender and personality on IDS processing. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we found that mothers with preverbal infants showed enhanced activation in the auditory dorsal pathway of the language areas, regardless of whether they listened to the prosodic or lexical component of IDS. We also found that extroverted mothers showed higher cortical activation in speech-related motor areas than did mothers with lower extroverted personality scores. Increased cortical activation levels were not found for fathers, non-parents, or mothers with older children.