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Updated: Jul 28, 2026
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P50 Sensory Gating in Infants
Published on: December 26, 2013
Central auditory processing of durational changes in complex speech patterns by newborns: an event-related brain
E Kushnerenko1, M Cheour, R Ceponiene
1Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology, P.O. Box 13, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland. helen@avocado.pc.helsinki.fi
Developmental Neuropsychology
|June 20, 2001
Summary
Newborn infants can detect changes in speech sound duration, showing a specific brain response. This auditory event-related potential indicates early auditory processing and change detection abilities in infants.
Area of Science:
- Auditory Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Speech Perception
Background:
- Human newborns possess sophisticated auditory processing capabilities.
- Understanding early speech sound discrimination is crucial for developmental research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate newborns' ability to perceive durational changes in the fricative /s/ sound.
- To identify neural markers associated with auditory change detection in neonates.
Main Methods:
- Auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from sleeping newborns.
- Stimuli included a nonsense word with infrequent changes in the /s/ sound duration.
- Mismatch negativity (MMN) responses were analyzed.
Main Results:
- Infrequent increments and decrements in speech sound duration elicited a mismatch negativity (MMN) response.
- Two distinct negative waves were observed in the auditory event-related potential at approximately 150 ms and 350 ms.
- A negative deflection, indicating stimulus change detection, was present in all infants.
Conclusions:
- Newborns demonstrate the capacity to discriminate subtle durational changes in speech sounds.
- The observed mismatch negativity (MMN) response provides evidence for automatic auditory change detection in neonates.
- These findings highlight the early development of auditory processing crucial for language acquisition.
