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Newborns' orientation toward sound: possible implications for cortical development

R K Clifton, B A Morrongiello, J W Kulig

Child Development

|September 1, 1981

Summary

Newborns do not exhibit the precedence effect, an auditory illusion where sound appears to come from the first speaker. This suggests immature auditory cortex development in infants.

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Area of Science:

Auditory perception
Developmental neuroscience
Psychoacoustics

Background:

The precedence effect is an auditory illusion where humans perceive a sound as originating from the first of two closely timed speakers.
Adults consistently localize sound to the leading loudspeaker, experiencing it as a single source.
This effect is believed to involve complex cortical processing, making it unlikely in newborns.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate whether newborns exhibit the precedence effect.
To determine if infants localize sound based on leading auditory cues.
To explore the developmental maturation of the auditory cortex in relation to sound localization.

Main Methods:

Newborns were exposed to recorded rattle sounds from one or two loudspeakers.

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Stimuli included single-source sounds (left/right), precedence effect stimuli (7 msec lead), and simultaneous sounds (center control).

Directional head turning responses were recorded to assess sound localization.

Main Results:

Newborns demonstrated directional head turning towards single-source sounds.
Infants did not exhibit head turning towards the precedence effect stimuli.
No significant head turning was observed for the simultaneous sound control stimuli.

Conclusions:

Newborns do not demonstrate the precedence effect.
The lack of response suggests that the neural mechanisms for the precedence effect are not yet mature at birth.
These findings support the hypothesis that auditory cortex maturation is crucial for experiencing the precedence effect.