Prenatal experience with language shapes the brain

Benedetta Mariani; Giorgio Nicoletti; Giacomo Barzon; Maria Clemencia Ortiz-Barajas; Mohinish Shukla; Ramon Guevara Erra; Samir  Simon Suweis; Judit Gervain

doi:10.1126/sciadv.adj3524

NeuroscienceScience AdvancesNov 22, 2023

Peer-reviewed journal article

Prenatal experience with language shapes the brain

Benedetta Mariani iD, Giorgio Nicoletti iD, Giacomo Barzon iD, Maria Clemencia Ortiz-Barajas iD, Mohinish Shukla iD, Ramon Guevara Erra iD, Samir Simon Suweis iD, Judit Gervain iD

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Abstract

Human infants acquire language with striking ease compared to adults, but the neural basis of their remarkable brain plasticity for language remains little understood. Applying a scaling analysis of neural oscillations for the first time to address this question, we show that newborns electrophysiological activity exhibits increased long-range temporal correlations after stimulation with speech, particularly in the prenatally heard language, indicating the early emergence of brain specialization for the native language.