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de la Cruz-Pavía I, Gervain J. Six-month-old infants' perception of structural regularities in speech. Cognition 2023; 238:105526. [PMID: 37379798 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105526] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2022] [Revised: 06/07/2023] [Accepted: 06/14/2023] [Indexed: 06/30/2023]
Abstract
In order to acquire grammar, infants need to extract regularities from the linguistic input. From birth, infants can detect regularities in speech based on identity relations, and show strong neural activation to syllable sequences containing adjacent repetitions of identical syllables (e.g. ABB: mubaba). Meanwhile, newborns' neural responses to sequences of different syllables (e.g. ABC: mubage, i.e. diversity-based relations) do not differ from baseline. However, this latter ability needs to emerge during development, as most linguistic units, such as words, are composed of highly variable sequences. As infants begin to learn their first word forms at 6 months, we hypothesize that the ability to represent sequences of different syllables might become important for them at this age. Using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), we measured 6-month-old infants' brain responses to repetition- and diversity-based sequences in the bilateral temporal, parietal and frontal areas. We found that 6-month-olds discriminated the repetition- and diversity-based structures in frontal and parietal regions, and exhibited equally strong activation to both grammars as compared to baseline. These results show that by 6 months of age, infants encode sequences with diversity-based structures. They thus provide the earliest evidence that prelexical infants represent difference in speech stimuli, which behavioral studies first attest at 11 months of age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irene de la Cruz-Pavía
- Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, University of Deusto, Bilbao, Spain; Basque Foundation for Science Ikerbasque, Bilbao, Spain; Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center, CNRS & Université Paris Cité, Paris, France.
| | - Judit Gervain
- Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center, CNRS & Université Paris Cité, Paris, France; Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy; Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
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Katus L, Blasi A, McCann S, Mason L, Mbye E, Touray E, Ceesay M, de Haan M, Moore SE, Elwell CE, Lloyd-Fox S, Team TBS. Longitudinal fNIRS and EEG metrics of habituation and novelty detection are correlated in 1-18-month-old infants. Neuroimage 2023; 274:120153. [PMID: 37146782 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2023] [Revised: 04/06/2023] [Accepted: 05/01/2023] [Indexed: 05/07/2023] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION . Habituation and novelty detection are two fundamental and widely studied neurocognitive processes. Whilst neural responses to repetitive and novel sensory input have been well-documented across a range of neuroimaging modalities, it is not yet fully understood how well these different modalities are able to describe consistent neural response patterns. This is particularly true for infants and young children, as different assessment modalities might show differential sensitivity to underlying neural processes across age. Thus far, many neurodevelopmental studies are limited in either sample size, longitudinal scope or breadth of measures employed, impeding investigations of how well common developmental trends can be captured via different methods. METHOD . This study assessed habituation and novelty detection in N = 204 infants using EEG and fNIRS measured in two separate paradigms, but within the same study visit, at 1, 5 and 18 months of age in an infant cohort in rural Gambia. EEG was acquired during an auditory oddball paradigm during which infants were presented with Frequent, Infrequent and Trial Unique sounds. In the fNIRS paradigm, infants were familiarised to a sentence of infant-directed speech, novelty detection was assessed via a change in speaker. Indices for habituation and novelty detection were extracted for both EEG and NIRS RESULTS: . We found evidence for weak to medium positive correlations between responses on the fNIRS and the EEG paradigms for indices of both habituation and novelty detection at most age points. Habituation indices correlated across modalities at 1 month and 5 months but not 18 months of age, and novelty responses were significantly correlated at 5 months and 18 months, but not at 1 month. Infants who showed robust habituation responses also showed robust novelty responses across both assessment modalities. DISCUSSION . This study is the first to examine concurrent correlations across two neuroimaging modalities across several longitudinal age points. Examining habituation and novelty detection, we show that despite the use of two different testing modalities, stimuli and timescale, it is possible to extract common neural metrics across a wide age range in infants. We suggest that these positive correlations might be strongest at times of greatest developmental change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Katus
- School of Human Sciences, University of Greenwich; Centre for Family Research, University of Cambridge.
| | - Anna Blasi
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London
| | - Sam McCann
- Department of Women and Children's Health, Kings College London
| | - Luke Mason
- Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, King's College London
| | - Ebrima Mbye
- MRC Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
| | - Ebou Touray
- MRC Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
| | - Muhammed Ceesay
- MRC Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
| | - Michelle de Haan
- Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London; Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, London
| | - Sophie E Moore
- Department of Women and Children's Health, Kings College London; MRC Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
| | - Clare E Elwell
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London
| | | | - The Bright Study Team
- The BRIGHT Study team are (in alphabetical order): Lena Acolatse, Chiara Bulgarelli, Maria-Magdalena Crespo Llado, Momodou K. Darboe, Saikou Drammeh, Tijan Fadera, Giulia Ghillia, Buba Jobarteh, Marta Perapoch Amado, Andrew M. Prentice, Maria Rozhko, Mariama Saidykhan
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Hakim U, Pinti P, Noah AJ, Zhang X, Burgess P, Hamilton A, Hirsch J, Tachtsidis I. Investigation of functional near-infrared spectroscopy signal quality and development of the hemodynamic phase correlation signal. NEUROPHOTONICS 2022; 9:025001. [PMID: 35599691 PMCID: PMC9116886 DOI: 10.1117/1.nph.9.2.025001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2021] [Accepted: 04/13/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Significance: There is a longstanding recommendation within the field of fNIRS to use oxygenated (HbO 2 ) and deoxygenated (HHb) hemoglobin when analyzing and interpreting results. Despite this, many fNIRS studies do focus onHbO 2 only. Previous work has shown thatHbO 2 on its own is susceptible to systemic interference and results may mostly reflect that rather than functional activation. Studies using bothHbO 2 and HHb to draw their conclusions do so with varying methods and can lead to discrepancies between studies. The combination ofHbO 2 and HHb has been recommended as a method to utilize both signals in analysis. Aim: We present the development of the hemodynamic phase correlation (HPC) signal to combineHbO 2 and HHb as recommended to utilize both signals in the analysis. We use synthetic and experimental data to evaluate how the HPC and current signals used for fNIRS analysis compare. Approach: About 18 synthetic datasets were formed using resting-state fNIRS data acquired from 16 channels over the frontal lobe. To simulate fNIRS data for a block-design task, we superimposed a synthetic task-related hemodynamic response to the resting state data. This data was used to develop an HPC-general linear model (GLM) framework. Experiments were conducted to investigate the performance of each signal at different SNR and to investigate the effect of false positives on the data. Performance was based on each signal's mean T -value across channels. Experimental data recorded from 128 participants across 134 channels during a finger-tapping task were used to investigate the performance of multiple signals [HbO 2 , HHb, HbT, HbD, correlation-based signal improvement (CBSI), and HPC] on real data. Signal performance was evaluated on its ability to localize activation to a specific region of interest. Results: Results from varying the SNR show that the HPC signal has the highest performance for high SNRs. The CBSI performed the best for medium-low SNR. The next analysis evaluated how false positives affect the signals. The analyses evaluating the effect of false positives showed that the HPC and CBSI signals reflect the effect of false positives onHbO 2 and HHb. The analysis of real experimental data revealed that the HPC and HHb signals provide localization to the primary motor cortex with the highest accuracy. Conclusions: We developed a new hemodynamic signal (HPC) with the potential to overcome the current limitations of usingHbO 2 and HHb separately. Our results suggest that the HPC signal provides comparable accuracy to HHb to localize functional activation while at the same time being more robust against false positives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Uzair Hakim
- University College London, Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, London, United Kingdom
| | - Paola Pinti
- University College London, Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, London, United Kingdom
- University of London, Birkbeck College, Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, London, United Kingdom
| | - Adam J. Noah
- Yale University, Department of Neuroscience and Comparative Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, United States
| | - Xian Zhang
- Yale University, Department of Neuroscience and Comparative Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, United States
| | - Paul Burgess
- University College London, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, London, United Kingdom
| | - Antonia Hamilton
- University College London, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, London, United Kingdom
| | - Joy Hirsch
- University College London, Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, London, United Kingdom
- Yale University, Department of Neuroscience and Comparative Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, United States
| | - Ilias Tachtsidis
- University College London, Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, London, United Kingdom
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Yeung MK, Chu VW. Viewing neurovascular coupling through the lens of combined EEG-fNIRS: A systematic review of current methods. Psychophysiology 2022; 59:e14054. [PMID: 35357703 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2021] [Revised: 02/01/2022] [Accepted: 03/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Neurovascular coupling is a key physiological mechanism that occurs in the healthy human brain, and understanding this process has implications for understanding the aging and neuropsychiatric populations. Combined electroencephalography (EEG) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has emerged as a promising, noninvasive tool for probing neurovascular interactions in humans. However, the utility of this approach critically depends on the methodological quality used for multimodal integration. Despite a growing number of combined EEG-fNIRS applications reported in recent years, the methodological rigor of past studies remains unclear, limiting the accurate interpretation of reported findings and hindering the translational application of this multimodal approach. To fill this knowledge gap, we critically evaluated various methodological aspects of previous combined EEG-fNIRS studies performed in healthy individuals. A literature search was conducted using PubMed and PsycINFO on June 28, 2021. Studies involving concurrent EEG and fNIRS measurements in awake and healthy individuals were selected. After screening and eligibility assessment, 96 studies were included in the methodological evaluation. Specifically, we critically reviewed various aspects of participant sampling, experimental design, signal acquisition, data preprocessing, outcome selection, data analysis, and results presentation reported in these studies. Altogether, we identified several notable strengths and limitations of the existing EEG-fNIRS literature. In light of these limitations and the features of combined EEG-fNIRS, recommendations are made to improve and standardize research practices to facilitate the use of combined EEG-fNIRS when studying healthy neurovascular coupling processes and alterations in neurovascular coupling among various populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael K Yeung
- Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
| | - Vivian W Chu
- Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
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Stibbs-Eaton L, Hodgson C, Kolade A, Crowell J, Gemignani J, Hope H, Pierce M, Elmadih A, Zhao C, Downey D, Elliott R, Abel KM. Vocal brain development in infants of mothers with serious mental illness (CAPRI-Voc): study protocol. BMJ Open 2022; 12:e053598. [PMID: 35301204 PMCID: PMC8932262 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-053598] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Improving the lives of children and adolescents with parental mental illness (CAPRI) remains an urgent political and public health concern for the UK and European Union. Recurrent parental mental illness is believed to lead to fractures in the family, academic and social lives of these children, yet interventions are poorly targeted and non-specific. Part of an interdisciplinary programme of work (the CAPRI Programme; grant number: 682741), CAPRI-Voc aims to achieve two goals: first, to test the feasibility of our longitudinal imaging paradigm in mother-infant pairs where the mother has a diagnosis of severe mental illness. Second, to compare development of vocal processing in these infants with infants in the general population. METHODS AND ANALYSIS Recruitment of 100 infants of mothers with mental illness, alongside 50 infants of healthy mothers. Both cohorts of infants will undergo functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) brain imaging at three time points: 9, 12 and 18 months to explore differences between cohorts in their neural responses to vocal stimuli in our language paradigm. Mothers will complete an interview and psychological questionnaires. We shall also complete an infant developmental battery and mother-child interaction play session. Data on recruitment, retention and dropout will be recorded. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION It will be made clear that fNIRS is a safe, non-invasive technology widely used in infant clinical and psychological research. We shall reassure mothers that no definitive causal link exists between maternal mental illness and language development in infants, and that individual data will only exist as part of the wider dataset. As the study includes both children and vulnerable adults, all research staff will complete National Health Service (NHS) Safeguarding level 3 training. Dissemination will be via direct feedback to stakeholders, patient and advisory groups, and through presentations at conferences, journal publications and university/NHS trust communications. The study was approved through North West-Greater Manchester West Research Ethics Committee (17/NW/0074) and Health Research Authority (212715).
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucy Stibbs-Eaton
- Psychology and Mental Health, The University of Manchester Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester, UK
- Liverpool Clinical Trials Centre, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | - Catherine Hodgson
- Psychology and Mental Health, The University of Manchester Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester, UK
| | - Adekeye Kolade
- Psychology and Mental Health, The University of Manchester Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester, UK
| | - Jennifer Crowell
- Psychology and Mental Health, The University of Manchester Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester, UK
| | - Jessica Gemignani
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialisation, University of Padua, Padova, Italy
| | - Holly Hope
- Psychology and Mental Health, The University of Manchester Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester, UK
| | - Matthias Pierce
- Psychology and Mental Health, The University of Manchester Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester, UK
| | - Alya Elmadih
- Psychology and Mental Health, The University of Manchester Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester, UK
| | - Chen Zhao
- Psychology and Mental Health, The University of Manchester Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester, UK
| | - Darragh Downey
- Division of Dentistry, The University of Manchester Faculty of Biology Medicine and Health, Manchester, UK
| | - Rebecca Elliott
- Neuroscience and Psychiatry Unit, The University of Manchester Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester, UK
| | - Kathryn M Abel
- Centre for Women's Mental Health, The University of Manchester Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester, UK
- Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK
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Saksida A, Ghiselli S, Bembich S, Scorpecci A, Giannantonio S, Resca A, Marsella P, Orzan E. Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Study of Listening Effort in Young Children with Cochlear Implants. Audiol Res 2021; 12:1-9. [PMID: 35076472 PMCID: PMC8788282 DOI: 10.3390/audiolres12010001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2021] [Revised: 11/23/2021] [Accepted: 12/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Very early bilateral implantation is thought to significantly reduce the attentional effort required to acquire spoken language, and consequently offer a profound improvement in quality of life. Despite the early intervention, however, auditory and communicative outcomes in children with cochlear implants remain poorer than in hearing children. The distorted auditory input via the cochlear implants requires more auditory attention resulting in increased listening effort and fatigue. Listening effort and fatigue may critically affect attention to speech, and in turn language processing, which may help to explain the variation in language and communication abilities. However, measuring attention to speech and listening effort is demanding in infants and very young children. Three objective techniques for measuring listening effort are presented in this paper that may address the challenges of testing very young and/or uncooperative children with cochlear implants: pupillometry, electroencephalography, and functional near-infrared spectroscopy. We review the studies of listening effort that used these techniques in paediatric populations with hearing loss, and discuss potential benefits of the systematic evaluation of listening effort in these populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda Saksida
- Institute for Maternal and Child Health—IRCCS “Burlo Garofolo”, 34100 Trieste, Italy; (A.S.); (S.B.)
| | - Sara Ghiselli
- “Guglielmo da Saliceto” Hospital of Piacenza, 29121 Piacenza, Italy;
| | - Stefano Bembich
- Institute for Maternal and Child Health—IRCCS “Burlo Garofolo”, 34100 Trieste, Italy; (A.S.); (S.B.)
| | - Alessandro Scorpecci
- Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù, 00165 Roma, Italy; (A.S.); (S.G.); (A.R.); (P.M.)
| | - Sara Giannantonio
- Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù, 00165 Roma, Italy; (A.S.); (S.G.); (A.R.); (P.M.)
| | - Alessandra Resca
- Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù, 00165 Roma, Italy; (A.S.); (S.G.); (A.R.); (P.M.)
| | - Pasquale Marsella
- Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù, 00165 Roma, Italy; (A.S.); (S.G.); (A.R.); (P.M.)
| | - Eva Orzan
- Institute for Maternal and Child Health—IRCCS “Burlo Garofolo”, 34100 Trieste, Italy; (A.S.); (S.B.)
- Correspondence:
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8
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Junge C, Boumeester M, Mills DL, Paul M, Cosper SH. Development of the N400 for Word Learning in the First 2 Years of Life: A Systematic Review. Front Psychol 2021; 12:689534. [PMID: 34276518 PMCID: PMC8277998 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.689534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2021] [Accepted: 05/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The N400 ERP component is a direct neural index of word meaning. Studies show that the N400 component is already present in early infancy, albeit often delayed. Many researchers capitalize on this finding, using the N400 component to better understand how early language acquisition unfolds. However, variability in how researchers quantify the N400 makes it difficult to set clear predictions or build theory. Not much is known about how the N400 component develops in the first 2 years of life in terms of its latency and topographical distributions, nor do we know how task parameters affect its appearance. In the current paper we carry out a systematic review, comparing over 30 studies that report the N400 component as a proxy of semantic processing elicited in infants between 0 and 24 months old who listened to linguistic stimuli. Our main finding is that there is large heterogeneity across semantic-priming studies in reported characteristics of the N400, both with respect to latency and to distributions. With age, the onset of the N400 insignificantly decreases, while its offset slightly increases. We also examined whether the N400 appears different for recently-acquired novel words vs. existing words: both situations reveal heterogeneity across studies. Finally, we inspected whether the N400 was modulated differently with studies using a between-subject design. In infants with more proficient language skills the N400 was more often present or showed itself here with earlier latency, compared to their peers; but no consistent patterns were observed for distribution characteristics of the N400. One limitation of the current review is that we compared studies that widely differed in choice of EEG recordings, pre-processing steps and quantification of the N400, all of which could affect the characteristics of the infant N400. The field is still missing research that systematically tests development of the N400 using the same paradigm across infancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline Junge
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - Marlijne Boumeester
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - Debra L. Mills
- School of Psychology, Bangor University, Bangor, United Kingdom
| | - Mariella Paul
- Psychology of Language Research Group, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Samuel H. Cosper
- Institute of Cognitive Science, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany
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Gow DW, Schoenhaut A, Avcu E, Ahlfors SP. Behavioral and Neurodynamic Effects of Word Learning on Phonotactic Repair. Front Psychol 2021; 12:590155. [PMID: 33776832 PMCID: PMC7987836 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.590155] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2020] [Accepted: 02/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Processes governing the creation, perception and production of spoken words are sensitive to the patterns of speech sounds in the language user's lexicon. Generative linguistic theory suggests that listeners infer constraints on possible sound patterning from the lexicon and apply these constraints to all aspects of word use. In contrast, emergentist accounts suggest that these phonotactic constraints are a product of interactive associative mapping with items in the lexicon. To determine the degree to which phonotactic constraints are lexically mediated, we observed the effects of learning new words that violate English phonotactic constraints (e.g., srigin) on phonotactic perceptual repair processes in nonword consonant-consonant-vowel (CCV) stimuli (e.g., /sre/). Subjects who learned such words were less likely to "repair" illegal onset clusters (/sr/) and report them as legal ones (/∫r/). Effective connectivity analyses of MRI-constrained reconstructions of simultaneously collected magnetoencephalography (MEG) and EEG data showed that these behavioral shifts were accompanied by changes in the strength of influences of lexical areas on acoustic-phonetic areas. These results strengthen the interpretation of previous results suggesting that phonotactic constraints on perception are produced by top-down lexical influences on speech processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- David W. Gow
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
- Department of Psychology, Salem State University, Salem, MA, United States
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States
- Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - Adriana Schoenhaut
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Enes Avcu
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Seppo P. Ahlfors
- Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
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Shinozuka K, Niioka K, Tokuda T, Kyutoku Y, Okuno K, Takahashi T, Dan I. Language Familiarity and Proficiency Leads to Differential Cortical Processing During Translation Between Distantly Related Languages. Front Hum Neurosci 2021; 15:593108. [PMID: 33716689 PMCID: PMC7952452 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.593108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2020] [Accepted: 01/12/2021] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
In the midst of globalization, English is regarded as an international language, or Lingua Franca, but learning it as a second language (L2) remains still difficult to speakers of other languages. This is true especially for the speakers of languages distantly related to English such as Japanese. In this sense, exploring neural basis for translation between the first language (L1) and L2 is of great interest. There have been relatively many previous researches revealing brain activation patterns during translations between L1 and English as L2. These studies, which focused on language translation with close or moderate linguistic distance (LD), have suggested that the Broca area (BA 44/45) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC; BA 46) may play an important role on translation. However, the neural mechanism of language translation between Japanese and English, having large LD, has not been clarified. Thus, we used functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to investigate the brain activation patterns during word translation between Japanese and English. We also assessed the effects of translation directions and word familiarity. All participants’ first language was Japanese and they were learning English. Their English proficiency was advanced or elementary. We selected English and Japanese words as stimuli based on the familiarity for Japanese people. Our results showed that the brain activation patterns during word translation largely differed depending on their English proficiency. The advanced group elicited greater activation on the left prefrontal cortex around the Broca’s area while translating words with low familiarity, but no activation was observed while translating words with high familiarity. On the other hand, the elementary group evoked greater activation on the left temporal area including the superior temporal gyrus (STG) irrespective of the word familiarity. These results suggested that different cognitive process could be involved in word translation corresponding to English proficiency in Japanese learners of English. These difference on the brain activation patterns between the advanced and elementary group may reflect the difference on the cognitive loads depending on the levels of automatization in one’s language processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katsumasa Shinozuka
- Research and Development Initiatives, Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Kiyomitsu Niioka
- Research and Development Initiatives, Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Tatsuya Tokuda
- Research and Development Initiatives, Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Yasushi Kyutoku
- Research and Development Initiatives, Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Koki Okuno
- Research and Development Initiatives, Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Tomoki Takahashi
- Research and Development Initiatives, Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Ippeita Dan
- Research and Development Initiatives, Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan
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Steber S, Rossi S. The challenge of learning a new language in adulthood: Evidence from a multi-methodological neuroscientific approach. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0246421. [PMID: 33606715 PMCID: PMC7894913 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0246421] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2019] [Accepted: 01/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Being proficient in several foreign languages is an essential part of every-day life. In contrast to childhood, learning a new language can be highly challenging for adults. The present study aims at investigating neural mechanisms supporting very initial foreign language learning in adulthood. For this reason, subjects underwent an implicit semantic associative training in which they had to learn new pseudoword-picture pairings. Learning success was measured via a recognition experiment presenting learned versus new pseudoword-picture pairings. Neural correlates were assessed by an innovative multi-methodological approach simultaneously applying electroencephalography (EEG) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Results indicate memory-related processes based on familiarity and mechanisms of cognitive control to be present during initial vocabulary learning. Findings underline the fascinating plasticity of the adult brain during foreign language learning, even after a short semantic training of only 18 minutes as well as the importance of comparing evidence from different neuroscientific methods and behavioral data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Steber
- ICONE—Innsbruck Cognitive Neuroscience, Department for Hearing, Speech, and Voice Disorders, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
- Department of Psychology, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Sonja Rossi
- ICONE—Innsbruck Cognitive Neuroscience, Department for Hearing, Speech, and Voice Disorders, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
- * E-mail:
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Stephan F, Saalbach H, Rossi S. Inner versus Overt Speech Production: Does This Make a Difference in the Developing Brain? Brain Sci 2020; 10:E939. [PMID: 33291489 PMCID: PMC7762104 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci10120939] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2020] [Revised: 11/24/2020] [Accepted: 12/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies in adults showed differential neural processing between overt and inner speech. So far, it is unclear whether inner and overt speech are processed differentially in children. The present study examines the pre-activation of the speech network in order to disentangle domain-general executive control from linguistic control of inner and overt speech production in 6- to 7-year-olds by simultaneously applying electroencephalography (EEG) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Children underwent a picture-naming task in which the pure preparation of a subsequent speech production and the actual execution of speech can be differentiated. The preparation phase does not represent speech per se but it resembles the setting up of the language production network. Only the fNIRS revealed a larger activation for overt, compared to inner, speech over bilateral prefrontal to parietal regions during the preparation phase. Findings suggest that the children's brain can prepare the subsequent speech production. The preparation for overt and inner speech requires different domain-general executive control. In contrast to adults, the children´s brain did not show differences between inner and overt speech when a concrete linguistic content occurs and a concrete execution is required. This might indicate that domain-specific executive control processes are still under development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Franziska Stephan
- Department of Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education, University Leipzig, 04109 Leipzig, Germany;
- Leipzig Research Center for Early Child Development, 04109 Leipzig, Germany
- ICONE, Innsbruck Cognitive Neuroscience, Department for Hearing, Speech, and Voice Disorders, Medical University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Henrik Saalbach
- Department of Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education, University Leipzig, 04109 Leipzig, Germany;
- Leipzig Research Center for Early Child Development, 04109 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Sonja Rossi
- ICONE, Innsbruck Cognitive Neuroscience, Department for Hearing, Speech, and Voice Disorders, Medical University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
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13
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Cosper SH, Männel C, Mueller JL. In the absence of visual input: Electrophysiological evidence of infants' mapping of labels onto auditory objects. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2020; 45:100821. [PMID: 32658761 PMCID: PMC7358178 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2020.100821] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2019] [Revised: 05/13/2020] [Accepted: 06/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite the prominence of non-visual semantic features for some words (e.g., siren or thunder), little is known about when and how the meanings of those words that refer to auditory objects can be acquired in early infancy. With associative learning being an important mechanism of word learning, we ask the question whether associations between sounds and words lead to similar learning effects as associations between visual objects and words. In an event-related potential (ERP) study, 10- to 12-month-old infants were presented with pairs of environmental sounds and pseudowords in either a consistent (where sound-word mapping can occur) or inconsistent manner. Subsequently, the infants were presented with sound-pseudoword combinations either matching or violating the consistent pairs from the training phase. In the training phase, we observed word-form familiarity effects and pairing consistency effects for ERPs time-locked to the onset of the word. The test phase revealed N400-like effects for violated pairs as compared to matching pairs. These results indicate that associative word learning is also possible for auditory objects before infants' first birthday. The specific temporal occurrence of the N400-like effect and topological distribution of the ERPs suggests that the object's modality has an impact on how novel words are processed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel H Cosper
- Institute of Cognitive Science, University of Osnabrück, Germany.
| | - Claudia Männel
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany; Department of Audiology and Phoniatrics, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany.
| | - Jutta L Mueller
- Institute of Cognitive Science, University of Osnabrück, Germany; Department of Linguistics, University of Vienna, Austria.
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14
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Steber S, Rossi S. So young, yet so mature? Electrophysiological and vascular correlates of phonotactic processing in 18-month-olds. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2020; 43:100784. [PMID: 32510350 PMCID: PMC7184260 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2020.100784] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2019] [Revised: 04/08/2020] [Accepted: 04/09/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The present study investigated neural correlates of implicit phonotactic processing in 18-month-old children that just reached an important step in language development: the vocabulary spurt. Pseudowords, either phonotactically legal or illegal with respect to their native language, were acoustically presented to monolingually German raised infants. Neural activity was simultaneously assessed by means of electroencephalography (EEG) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). The former method excellently tracks fast processing mechanisms, whereas the latter reveals brain areas recruited. Results of the present study indicate that 18-month-olds recognize the linguistic properties of their native language based on phonotactics. This manifested in an increased N400 for legal compared to illegal pseudowords in the EEG conforming to adult-like mechanisms. Unfortunately, fNIRS findings did not support this discrimination ability. Possible methodological and brain maturational reasons might explain this null finding. This study provides evidence for the advantage of a multi-methodological approach in order to get a clear picture on neural language development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Steber
- ICONE - Innsbruck Cognitive Neuroscience, Department for Hearing, Speech, and Voice Disorders, Medical University of Innsbruck, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria; Department of Psychology, University of Innsbruck, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria.
| | - Sonja Rossi
- ICONE - Innsbruck Cognitive Neuroscience, Department for Hearing, Speech, and Voice Disorders, Medical University of Innsbruck, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria.
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15
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Steber S, König N, Stephan F, Rossi S. Uncovering electrophysiological and vascular signatures of implicit emotional prosody. Sci Rep 2020; 10:5807. [PMID: 32242032 PMCID: PMC7118077 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-62761-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2019] [Accepted: 03/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The capability of differentiating between various emotional states in speech displays a crucial prerequisite for successful social interactions. The aim of the present study was to investigate neural processes underlying this differentiating ability by applying a simultaneous neuroscientific approach in order to gain both electrophysiological (via electroencephalography, EEG) and vascular (via functional near-infrared-spectroscopy, fNIRS) responses. Pseudowords conforming to angry, happy, and neutral prosody were presented acoustically to participants using a passive listening paradigm in order to capture implicit mechanisms of emotional prosody processing. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) revealed a larger P200 and an increased late positive potential (LPP) for happy prosody as well as larger negativities for angry and neutral prosody compared to happy prosody around 500 ms. FNIRS results showed increased activations for angry prosody at right fronto-temporal areas. Correlation between negativity in the EEG and activation in fNIRS for angry prosody suggests analogous underlying processes resembling a negativity bias. Overall, results indicate that mechanisms of emotional and phonological encoding (P200), emotional evaluation (increased negativities) as well as emotional arousal and relevance (LPP) are present during implicit processing of emotional prosody.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Steber
- ICONE - Innsbruck Cognitive Neuroscience, Department for Hearing, Speech, and Voice Disorders, Medical University of Innsbruck, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria
- Department of Psychology, University of Innsbruck, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Nicola König
- ICONE - Innsbruck Cognitive Neuroscience, Department for Hearing, Speech, and Voice Disorders, Medical University of Innsbruck, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria
- Department of Psychology, University of Innsbruck, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Franziska Stephan
- ICONE - Innsbruck Cognitive Neuroscience, Department for Hearing, Speech, and Voice Disorders, Medical University of Innsbruck, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria
- Department of Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education, University of Leipzig, 04109, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Sonja Rossi
- ICONE - Innsbruck Cognitive Neuroscience, Department for Hearing, Speech, and Voice Disorders, Medical University of Innsbruck, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria.
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16
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Groba A, De Houwer A, Obrig H, Rossi S. Bilingual and Monolingual First Language Acquisition Experience Differentially Shapes Children's Property Term Learning: Evidence from Behavioral and Neurophysiological Measures. Brain Sci 2019; 9:E40. [PMID: 30759804 PMCID: PMC6406634 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci9020040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2019] [Accepted: 02/10/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies of novel noun learning show bilingual children rely less on the Mutual Exclusivity Constraint (MEC) for word learning than monolinguals. Shifting the focus to learning novel property terms (adjectives), the present study compared 3.5- and five-year-old bilingual and monolingual preschoolers' adherence to the MEC. We found no bilingual-monolingual differences on a behavioral forced-choice task for the 3.5-year-olds, but five-year-old monolinguals adhered more to the MEC than bilinguals did. Older bilinguals adhered less to the MEC than younger ones, while there was no difference in MEC adherence between the younger and older monolinguals. In the 5-year-olds, we additionally acquired neurophysiological data using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to allow for a first explorative look at potential neuronal underpinnings. The data show that, compared to bilinguals, monolinguals reveal higher activation over three brain regions (right frontal, left temporo-parietal, and left prefrontal) that may be involved in exploiting the MEC, building on conflict detection, inhibition, solution of a disjunction, and working memory processes. Taken together, our behavioral and neurophysiological findings reveal different paths towards novel property term learning depending on children's language acquisition context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agnes Groba
- Institute of Special Education, University of Leipzig, Marschnerstr. 29 e, 04109 Leipzig, Germany.
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstraße 1a, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
- Department of Linguistics, University of Erfurt, Nordhäuser Straße 63, 99089 Erfurt, Germany.
| | - Annick De Houwer
- Department of Linguistics, University of Erfurt, Nordhäuser Straße 63, 99089 Erfurt, Germany.
| | - Hellmuth Obrig
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstraße 1a, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
- Clinic for Cognitive Neurology, Medical Faculty, University of Leipzig, Liebigstraße 16, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Sonja Rossi
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstraße 1a, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
- Department for Hearing, Speech, and Voice Disorders, Medical University of Innsbruck, Anichstraße 35, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
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17
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Zhang D, Chen Y, Hou X, Wu YJ. Near-infrared spectroscopy reveals neural perception of vocal emotions in human neonates. Hum Brain Mapp 2019; 40:2434-2448. [PMID: 30697881 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2018] [Revised: 01/19/2019] [Accepted: 01/20/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Processing affective prosody, that is the emotional tone of a speaker, is fundamental to human communication and adaptive behaviors. Previous studies have mainly focused on adults and infants; thus the neural mechanisms underlying the processing of affective prosody in newborns remain unclear. Here, we used near-infrared spectroscopy to examine the ability of 0-to-4-day-old neonates to discriminate emotions conveyed by speech prosody in their maternal language and a foreign language. Happy, fearful, and angry prosodies enhanced neural activation in the right superior temporal gyrus relative to neutral prosody in the maternal but not the foreign language. Happy prosody elicited greater activation than negative prosody in the left superior frontal gyrus and the left angular gyrus, regions that have not been associated with affective prosody processing in infants or adults. These findings suggest that sensitivity to affective prosody is formed through prenatal exposure to vocal stimuli of the maternal language. Furthermore, the sensitive neural correlates appeared more distributed in neonates than infants, indicating a high-level of neural specialization between the neonatal stage and early infancy. Finally, neonates showed preferential neural responses to positive over negative prosody, which is contrary to the "negativity bias" phenomenon established in adult and infant studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dandan Zhang
- College of Psychology and Sociology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.,Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Affective and Social Cognitive Science, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Yu Chen
- College of Psychology and Sociology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Xinlin Hou
- Department of Pediatrics, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Yan Jing Wu
- Faculty of Foreign Languages, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China
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18
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Steinbeis N, Crone E, Blakemore SJ, Cohen Kadosh K. Development holds the key to understanding the interplay of nature versus nurture in shaping the individual. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2018. [PMID: 28629759 PMCID: PMC6987801 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2017.05.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
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19
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Cristia A. Can infants learn phonology in the lab? A meta-analytic answer. Cognition 2017; 170:312-327. [PMID: 29102857 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2017.09.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2016] [Revised: 06/29/2017] [Accepted: 09/27/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Two of the key tasks facing the language-learning infant lie at the level of phonology: establishing which sounds are contrastive in the native inventory, and determining what their possible syllabic positions and permissible combinations (phonotactics) are. In 2002-2003, two theoretical proposals, one bearing on how infants can learn sounds (Maye, Werker, & Gerken, 2002) and the other on phonotactics (Chambers, Onishi, & Fisher, 2003), were put forward on the pages of Cognition, each supported by two laboratory experiments, wherein a group of infants was briefly exposed to a set of pseudo-words, and plausible phonological generalizations were tested subsequently. These two papers have received considerable attention from the general scientific community, and inspired a flurry of follow-up work. In the context of questions regarding the replicability of psychological science, the present work uses a meta-analytic approach to appraise extant empirical evidence for infant phonological learning in the laboratory. It is found that neither seminal finding (on learning sounds and learning phonotactics) holds up when close methodological replications are integrated, although less close methodological replications do provide some evidence in favor of the sound learning strand of work. Implications for authors and readers of this literature are drawn out. It would be desirable that additional mechanisms for phonological learning be explored, and that future infant laboratory work employ paradigms that rely on constrained and unambiguous links between experimental exposure and measured infant behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alejandrina Cristia
- LSCP, Département d'études cognitives, ENS, EHESS, CNRS, PSL Research University, France
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