Preserved statistical learning in preterm children aged 4-6 years: Evidence from neural and behavioral measures

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Linguistics

Background:

• Statistical learning (SL) is crucial for cognitive processes, especially language acquisition.
• Children born preterm face increased risks for learning and language difficulties.
• SL development in preterm infants remains understudied.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate statistical learning abilities in preterm and full-term children aged 4-6 years.
• To assess the relationship between statistical learning, prematurity, and language development.

Main Methods:

• Children were exposed to an artificial language with recurring pseudowords.
• Statistical learning was measured using neural frequency tagging and a serial recall task.
• Language abilities were assessed in a subset of participants.

Main Results:

• Both preterm and full-term children demonstrated robust statistical learning.
• Preterm children's statistical learning performance was comparable to full-term peers.
• Prematurity correlated with lower language scores, but SL did not mediate this effect.

Conclusions:

• Statistical learning abilities appear to be preserved in children born preterm.
• Intact statistical learning is unlikely to be the cause of language deficits in this population.
• SL represents a fundamental and resilient cognitive capacity.