Experience-dependent effects of passive auditory exposure in infants impact theta phase synchrony and predict later language.

The establishment of cortical representations critical for mounting language is supported by both ongoing neural maturation and experience-expectant plasticity as infants increasingly recognize the linguistic events that occur most often in their surrounding environment. Previous research has demonstrated that enhanced efficiency of syllabic representation and discrimination is facilitated by interactive attention-driven, nonspeech auditory experience. However, experience-dependent effects on syllable processing as a function of nonspeech, passive auditory exposure (PAE), remain unclear.

Modulation of Theta Phase Synchrony during Syllable Processing as a Function of Interactive Acoustic Experience in Infancy.

Plasticity, a prominent characteristic of the infant brain, supports formation of cortical representations as infants begin to interact with and adapt to environmental sensory events. Enhanced acoustic processing efficiency along with improved allocation of attentional resources at 7 months and establishment of well-defined phonemic maps at 9 months have been shown to be facilitated by early interactive acoustic experience (IAE). In this study, using an oddball paradigm and measures of theta phase synchrony at source level, we examined short- and long-term effects of nonspeech IAE on syllable processing.

Effects of noise and age on the infant brainstem response to speech.

Objective: Background noise makes hearing speech difficult for people of all ages. This difficulty can be exacerbated by co-occurring developmental deficits that often emerge in childhood. Sentence-type speech-in-noise (SIN) tests are available clinically but cannot be administered to very young individuals.

A Modulatory Effect of Brief Passive Exposure to Non-linguistic Sounds on Intrinsic Functional Connectivity: Relevance to Cognitive Performance.

A growing literature on resting-state fMRI (R-fMRI) has explored the impact of preceding sensory experience on intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC). However, it remains largely unknown how passive exposure to irrelevant auditory stimuli, which is a constant in everyday life, reconfigures iFC. Here, we directly compared pre- and post-exposure R-fMRI scans to examine: 1) modulatory effects of brief passive exposure to repeating non-linguistic sounds on subsequent iFC, and 2) associations between iFC modulations and cognitive abilities.

Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations.

Rapid auditory processing and acoustic change detection abilities play a critical role in allowing human infants to efficiently process the fine spectral and temporal changes that are characteristic of human language. These abilities lay the foundation for effective language acquisition; allowing infants to hone in on the sounds of their native language. Invasive procedures in animals and scalp-recorded potentials from human adults suggest that simultaneous, rhythmic activity (oscillations) between and within brain regions are fundamental to sensory development; determining the resolution with which incoming stimuli are parsed.

Plasticity in developing brain: active auditory exposure impacts prelinguistic acoustic mapping.

A major task across infancy is the creation and tuning of the acoustic maps that allow efficient native language processing. This process crucially depends on ongoing neural plasticity and keen sensitivity to environmental cues. Development of sensory mapping has been widely studied in animal models, demonstrating that cortical representations of the sensory environment are continuously modified by experience.

Oscillatory support for rapid frequency change processing in infants.

Rapid auditory processing and auditory change detection abilities are crucial aspects of speech and language development, particularly in the first year of life. Animal models and adult studies suggest that oscillatory synchrony, and in particular low-frequency oscillations play key roles in this process. We hypothesize that infant perception of rapid pitch and timing changes is mediated, at least in part, by oscillatory mechanisms.

Links between abnormal brain structure and cognition in holoprosencephaly.

Converging information on medical issues, motor ability, and cognitive outcomes is essential when addressing long-term clinical management in children with holoprosencephaly. This study considered whether adding more informative structural indices to classic holoprosencephaly categories would increase prediction of cognitive outcomes. Forty-two children with holoprosencephaly were examined to determine the association of deep gray nuclei abnormalities with cognitive abilities and the effect of motor skill deficits on cognitive performance.

Auditory event-related responses in children with semi-lobar holoprosencephaly.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate auditory sensory and discrimination responses in children with semi-lobar holoprosencephaly (HPE). Event-related potential (ERP) signals were recorded to tone pair stimuli at 62 electrode sites from the scalp using an oddball paradigm (a two-block design, inter-stimulus interval=70 or 300 ms; frequency of tone pair=100 vs. 100 Hz for the frequent and 100 vs.

The Carter Neurocognitive Assessment for children with severely compromised expressive language and motor skills.

In this paper, different means of assessing cognitive development in children with severe impairments in both their expressive language and their motor skills are reviewed. A range of techniques are considered, including traditional cognitive tests and behavioral and physiological measures, but these techniques are generally impractical and minimally informative when it comes to assessing children with both motor and speech impairments. Electrophysiological measures show some promise for the future, but are currently inadequate for wide-ranging cognitive assessment.