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Sensorimotor foundations of speech perception in infancy
Dawoon Choi1, H Henny Yeung2, Janet F Werker3
1Department of Psychology, Yale University, Yale, CT, USA.
Trends in Cognitive Sciences
|June 11, 2023
Summary
Infant speech perception is multimodal, involving auditory, motor, and sensorimotor systems even before vocalizations emerge. This organized network supports early language acquisition from speech input.
Area of Science:
- Developmental neuroscience
- Cognitive science
- Linguistics
Background:
- Infant speech perception is crucial for language acquisition.
- Early organization of the perceptual system for speech is established in infancy.
- The interplay between speech perception and production is well-studied in adults.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review evidence on specialized infant perceptual systems for speech beyond auditory modality.
- To investigate the influence of motor and sensorimotor systems on infant speech perception.
- To understand the early development of a multimodal speech and language network.
Main Methods:
- Review of behavioral evidence in infants.
- Review of neuroimaging evidence in infants.
- Synthesis of existing literature on infant vocal development and adult speech systems.
Main Results:
- Perceptual systems beyond auditory modality are specialized for speech in infancy.
- Motor and sensorimotor systems influence speech perception in pre-vocal infants.
- A multimodal speech and language network is present before vocalizations emerge.
Conclusions:
- Infant speech perception is a multimodal process.
- Motor and sensory systems contribute to speech perception early in development.
- A foundational multimodal network supports early language learning.
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