Humans Begin Language Learning Even Before Birth – This is the latest finding from scientists studying the listening and speaking skills of newborns.
A team of researchers, led by experts at the University of Padua in Italy, observed specific changes in the brain patterns of infants when they were exposed to spoken language. The results indicate that infants’ brains synchronize harmoniously with their mother’s language and the fundamental rhythms of pronunciation.
Fetuses can recognize and acquire language before birth. (Image: iStock).
In a recently published paper, the researchers asserted: “The findings represent the most compelling evidence to date that language experiences in the womb help shape the functional organization of infants’ brains before birth.“
The study involved 33 newborns aged 1-5 days whose mothers spoke French. The infants were played a recording of the story “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” in French, English, and Spanish.
Using electrodes attached to caps, the researchers observed that infants exhibited different responses to the French recording.
Specifically, the infants’ brain waves showed longer temporal correlations, indicating that the infants were perceiving and processing speech.
This demonstrates that even right after birth, humans can recognize and acquire language they heard while in the womb (fetuses can hear external sounds after about 7 months of development).
Moreover, the research team discovered that infants’ brain waves showed a consistent oscillation at a specific frequency when exposed to French, corresponding to the natural rhythm of speech.
This result means that infants are ready to learn to speak just days after birth.
Scientists believe that infants’ brain learning begins even before birth. (Image: iStock).
“The newborn brain may already be in an optimal state for effectively processing speech and language, reinforcing infants’ remarkable language learning abilities,” the researchers stated.
Previous studies have indicated that humans may start listening while still in the womb, such as newborns showing a preference for their mother’s voice.
Unlike earlier research, this recent study was designed to examine the neural activity occurring in infants more closely.
Of course, this does not mean that humans are bound to their mother tongue. Newborns still have the full capacity to learn a language different from their mother’s.
This study serves as evidence that brain learning begins even before birth.
The next step for scientists may be to explore the impact of different types of sounds on infants’ brains.
There is evidence that humans can recognize melodies they have heard while still in the womb.
The results of this new project will be used to investigate whether the neural changes during sound learning are similar to those during language acquisition.
This study was published in the journal Science Advances.
