Babies are able to recognize and respond to emotion in human voices at the age of just three months, new research says.
Although scientists remain unaware of when human brains begin to register voices and process emotions, three months is earlier than they previously thought. Researchers used functional magnetic-resonance imaging to record how 21 sleeping babies responded to tapes playing “emotional sounds” along with other, non-human noises and then examined the scans for brain activity.
When sounds like laughter and crying were played, researchers noted the temporal cortex of the babies’ brains were activated, the same region in adults where human vocalizations are processed. Other noises like toys or water registered in a different part of the brain, the BBC said.
The stimulation was particularly strong with negative or sad sounds, researchers said. Neutral or happy sounds registered in other parts of the brain.
“Our results suggest that the infant temporal cortex is more mature than previously reported,” said Evelyne Mercure of University College London. “It is a rare demonstration that specialized areas exist in the brain very early in development.”
Scientists hope to be able to build on this knowledge by studying development in autistic and non-autistic brains.
“By identifying when brain systems come on stream, we can understand where it goes wrong,” Declan Murphy of King’s College London told the BBC.
The report was published online June 30 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication.
