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Audiovisual speech perception and language acquisition in preterm infants: A longitudinal study
Masahiro Imafuku1, Masahiko Kawai2, Fusako Niwa2
1Graduate School of Education, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan; Faculty of Education, Musashino University, Tokyo, Japan.
Early Human Development
|December 14, 2018
Summary
Preterm infants show less visual preference for congruent audiovisual speech, impacting language development. Early detection of audiovisual speech perception can aid language acquisition in preterm infants.
Area of Science:
- Developmental psychology
- Neuroscience
- Speech-language pathology
Background:
- Preterm infants face increased risks for language delays.
- Audiovisual speech integration is crucial for language acquisition in term infants, but its role in preterm infants is less understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To longitudinally examine visual preference for audiovisual congruent and incongruent speech in preterm and term infants.
- To correlate audiovisual speech perception with language development (receptive and expressive vocabulary) in both groups.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a preferential looking task with eye-tracking to assess visual attention in infants at 6, 12, and 18 months corrected age.
- Collected parent-reported vocabulary data using the Japanese MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory.
Main Results:
- Term infants preferred congruent audiovisual speech at 6 and 18 months, while preterm infants did not show a clear preference.
- Preterm infants exhibited lower receptive and expressive vocabulary scores compared to term infants.
- Looking time towards congruent audiovisual speech at 6 months positively correlated with later vocabulary scores in both groups.
Conclusions:
- Enhanced audiovisual speech perception is linked to better language acquisition in both preterm and term infants.
- Early identification of audiovisual speech processing behaviors may facilitate interventions for developmental language issues in preterm infants.
Keywords:
Audiovisual speech perceptionEye-trackingLanguage acquisitionLongitudinal studyPreterm infantsMore Related Videos
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