新生儿对语音的感知、辨别和学习

Perception, discrimination, and learning of speech in newborns

新生儿自娩出起便开始利用臻于成熟的听觉系统对语音的各要素进行大脑表征和学习记忆。考察新生儿语音加工特点,不仅能揭示语言功能在人类发展最初阶段的认知神经机制,还能对自闭症等神经发育性疾病的早期预警和临床诊断提供有价值的线索。我们回顾并总结了新生儿对语音的感知、辨别和学习以及语言发展对自闭症的预测作用,发现新生儿对特定语音存在感知偏好;新生儿具备独特的音素辨别能力;婴儿期语言加工的脑功能或结构指标对自闭症具有一定的预测价值。我们建议未来研究从三个方面开展工作。在基础研究方面:第一,严格控制语音材料的韵律因素,重新审查新生儿语言加工特征及大脑偏侧化问题;第二,揭示新生儿语音学习的认知神经机制以及睡眠的记忆巩固作用。在临床转化研究方面,以高风险自闭症新生儿为追踪对象,基于纵向多模态脑观测数据,建立疾病风险评估系统,揭示出生早期语言发展脑指标对自闭症的预测价值。

Newborns utilize their auditory system to process and learn the various elements of language from birth.Examining the characteristics of language processing in newborns not only reveals the neurocognitive mechanisms of language function in the earliest stages of human development,but also provides valuable clues for an early warning and clinical diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism.This review article summarized the perception,discrimination,and learning of phonemes in newborns,as well as the potential role in predicting autism spectrum disorder.It was found that newborns have preferences for specific languages and possess unique phoneme discrimination abilities.Furthermore,brain functional and structural indices of language processing in infancy have predictive values for autism.Future research should focus on the following three issues:1)Controlling the rhythm factors of materials,re-examining the characteristics of newborn language processing and brain lateralization issues;2)Revealing the neurocognitive mechanisms of newborn language learning and the role of sleep in memory consolidation;3)Tracking the language development of high-risk newborns with autism and establishing a disease risk assessment system so as to reveal the potential biomarkers for autism.