Preterm infants show an atypical processing of the mother's voice

Brain Cogn. 2023 Nov 8;173:106104. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2023.106104. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTTo understand the consequences of prematurity on language perception, it is fundamental to determine how atypical early sensory experience affects brain development. At term equivalent age, ten preterm and ten full-term newborns underwent high-density EEG during mother or stranger speech presentation, in the forward or backward order. A general group effect terms > preterms is evident in the theta frequency band, in the left temporal area, with preterms showing significant activation for strangers' and terms for the mother's voice. A significant group contrast in the low and high theta in the right temporal regions indicates higher activations for the stranger's voice in preterms. Finally, only full terms presented a late gamma band increase for the maternal voice, indicating a more mature brain response. EEG time-frequency analysis demonstrate that preterm infants are selectively responsive to stranger voices in both temporal hemispheres, and that they lack selective brain responses to their mother's forward voice.PMID:37949001 | DOI:10.1016/j.bandc.2023.106104

Source: Brain and Cognition - November 10, 2023 Category: Neurology Authors: Manuela Filippa Damien Benis Alexandra Adam-Darque Didier Grandjean Petra S H üppi Source Type: research