Babies tune in to human voices even when asleep

In a study published in the journal Current Biology, researchers from Institute of Psychiatry (IoP) King's College London have found that babies as young as three months are able to tune in to the sound of our voices and perceive different emotions, even when they are asleep. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), researchers took brain images of sleeping babies and discovered that special areas in the brain which process sound are more sensitive than previously thought. From very early on in babies' development these special areas respond differently to human and non-human sounds as well as positive, negative and neutral emotions. Principal Investigator Professor Declan Murphy, IoP at King's said: 'This discovery fundamentally advances our understanding of infant development. It has implications not only for how we view the impact of social environment on the infant brain, but for future research into how brain function and development relates to later difficulties in social communication.' - Author Evelyne Mercure adds: 'Our results suggest that the infant temporal cortex is more mature than previously reported. It is rare to see that specialized areas exist in the brain so early in development.' - Co-author Anna Blasi said 'The human voice is such an important social cue, which might explain why the brain processes it so early - this may represent the very first step in social interaction and language learning.' - The study was the result of a unique collaboration between experts in baby development at Birkbeck College, led by Professor Mark Johnson and leaders in brain imaging and neurodevelopment at the IoP at King's, led by Professor Declan Murphy.