A parent interacting with a baby is a heart-warming and universal scene. The parent speaks in a high-pitched voice 鈥� known as 鈥減arentese鈥� 鈥� as they respond positively to the baby鈥檚 babbling and gestures, commonly with eye contact and smiles.
These connections don鈥檛 just make for a touching sight. New research from the 91爆料鈥檚 Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS) shows they鈥檙e important for infant language growth, too.
In a study , researchers used a safe and noninvasive brain-imaging technique called magnetoencephalography, or MEG, to monitor infant brain activity during social and nonsocial interactions with the same adult. They found that when the adult talked and played socially with a 5-month-old baby, the baby鈥檚 brain activity particularly increased in regions responsible for attention 鈥� and the level of this type of activity predicted enhanced language development at later ages. This 鈥榮ocial鈥� scenario was compared with a 鈥榥onsocial鈥� scenario in which the adult turned away from the baby to talk to another person. This interaction showed lower activity levels in the same brain areas.
Watch from I-LABS that explains how infants’ brain responses to social interaction predict future language growth.
鈥淭his is the first study to directly compare infant brain responses to adult-infant social interaction versus nonsocial interaction, and then follow up with the children until they reached the age of 2.5 to see how the early brain activation relates to the child鈥檚 future language abilities,鈥� said lead author , research scientist at I-LABS.
The MEG brain-imaging technology allowed the baby to move and interact naturally with the adult, which enabled researchers to track the firing of neurons from multiple areas in the baby鈥檚 brain as the adult talked to, played with and smiled at the baby. They then monitored the infant鈥檚 brain activity a second time as the adult turned away and paid attention to someone else.
These actions naturally occur every day between adults and babies, and the study showed they have different measurable effects on a baby鈥檚 brain. Researchers found that increased neural activity in response to the social interaction at 5 months predicted enhanced language development at five later ages: 18, 21, 24, 27 and 30 months. The researchers tracked infants鈥� language development using a well-documented and validated survey that asks parents about words and sentences their infants say at home.
鈥淭he connection between early brain reactions and later language is consistent with scientists鈥� fascination with the early age period and opens up many new questions that we, and others, will be exploring,鈥� said co-author , I-LABS co-director and a 91爆料 professor of psychology.
Researchers chose 5-month-old babies for the study because that age is just before the 鈥渟ensitive period鈥� for speech-language learning, which begins at about 6 months. Once this period begins, it鈥檚 especially important for infants to observe adults because attention enhances learning.
Using parentese with infants represents an intuitive desire to connect, said , senior author and co-director of I-LABS.
鈥淭here鈥檚 an implicit understanding that language is about connection,鈥� Kuhl said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about a communicative pathway between you and the other. This starts in infancy with the desire to make that communicative connection.鈥�
The study鈥檚 results are particularly important for parents and early educators to understand, Kuhl said.
鈥淲e knew from previous work that social interaction is essential at 9-months of age for foreign-language learning, but the current study shows that social interaction plays a role much earlier,鈥� Kuhl said. 鈥淭he study shows that parents鈥� natural use of parentese, coupled with smiles, touch and their warm back-and-forth responses to the baby鈥檚 actions, have a real-world, measurable impact on the baby鈥檚 brain. We theorize that this parent behavior, which we call 鈥榯he social ensemble,鈥� captures and holds infants鈥� attention and motivates them to learn at a critical time in development.鈥�
Additional co-authors were , , , , and , all of I-LABS. 聽The study was funded by The Bezos Family Foundation, the Overdeck Foundation and grants from the National Institutes of Health.
For more information, contact Kuhl at pkkhul@uw.edu.