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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 27, 2026

Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations

Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations

Published on: July 1, 2015

Developmental refinement of cortical systems for speech and voice processing.

Milene Bonte¹, Anke Ley¹, Wolfgang Scharke¹

¹Department of Cognitive Neuroscience and Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands.

|January 19, 2016

Summary

Neural networks for speech processing mature over time. This fMRI study shows prolonged development in children, adolescents, and adults, refining auditory information processing for voice and speech tasks.

Keywords:

Auditory cortex Brain development Language Phonological skills fMRI

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Developmental Neuroscience
Auditory Neuroscience

Background:

Neural mechanisms for voice and speech processing mature with development.
Understanding the trajectory of this maturation is crucial for identifying developmental changes.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the effects of task, age, and phonological skills on cortical responses to voice and speech.
To examine how adaptive processing achieves mature efficiency in auditory perception.

Main Methods:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study with children (8-9 years), adolescents (14-15 years), and adults.
Participants performed delayed-match-to-sample tasks on vowel and speaker identity.
Analysis of behavioral accuracy, cortical responses, and task-related modulations.

Main Results:

Behavioral accuracy and sound-evoked auditory cortical fMRI responses were comparable across age groups.
Developmental enhancement of responses in the right superior temporal cortex for speaker information processing was observed.
Decreased recruitment of temporal-parietal cortex and posterior cingulate/cingulate gyrus with age.
Speech-evoked activity in specific superior temporal regions scaled with phonological skills.

Conclusions:

Cortical functional networks for speech and voice processing undergo prolonged development.
This development involves progressive refinement of neural mechanisms for selecting and analyzing auditory information.
Individual differences in phonological skills influence the maturation of these networks.