The prenatal period represents a critical window in which key neural structures and functions are shaped, laying the foundation for sensory processing, language learning, and cognitive function throughout an individual's lifetime. While research recognizes the importance of prenatal auditory and language stimulation, it is unclear whether and to what degree the language environment in utero shapes the fetal brain and language acquisition after birth. This proposal will focus on the prenatal language environment and its effects on neural plasticity and language development. We will adopt a longitudinal approach combining developmental cognitive neuroscience, linguistics, and information theory, using both novel and existing data.
Given the diversity of speech sounds across languages, multilingualism provides an excellent frame-work for studying environmental effects on early learning in typical development. DiverseSounds will investigate input-driven neuroplasticity of fetal brain organization, assess which characteristics of speech are processed by human fetuses, determine fetal neural predictors of interindividual differ-ences in speech sound perception in early infancy, and investigate if fetal neuroplasticity longitudinally predicts language learning mechanisms in infancy.
We will use state-of-the-art brain imaging techniques (MRI and EEG) in monolinguals and multilin-guals, and novel measures of phonological diversity informed by descriptive and typological linguistic work. We propose to examine the relationship between prenatal experience and subsequent develop-mental trajectories of language acquisition from 25 weeks of gestation to 6 months of age. This re-search will advance our understanding of fetal and infant development and therefore bears significant implications for theory building, language therapy, and public health policy.
