Developmental origins of natural sound perception
Infants are exposed to a myriad of sounds early in life, including caregivers' speech, songs, human-made and natural (non-anthropogenic) environmental sounds. While decades of research have established that infants have sophisticated perceptual abilities to process speech, less is known about h...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1474961/full |
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| author | Silvia Polver Silvia Polver Nicole Miller-Viacava Matthieu Fraticelli Judit Gervain Judit Gervain Judit Gervain Christian Lorenzi |
| author_facet | Silvia Polver Silvia Polver Nicole Miller-Viacava Matthieu Fraticelli Judit Gervain Judit Gervain Judit Gervain Christian Lorenzi |
| author_sort | Silvia Polver |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Infants are exposed to a myriad of sounds early in life, including caregivers' speech, songs, human-made and natural (non-anthropogenic) environmental sounds. While decades of research have established that infants have sophisticated perceptual abilities to process speech, less is known about how they perceive natural environmental sounds. This review synthesizes current findings about the perception of natural environmental sounds in the first years of life, emphasizing their role in auditory development and describing how these studies contribute to the emerging field of human auditory ecology. Some of the existing studies explore infants' responses to animal vocalizations and water sounds. Infants demonstrate an initial broad sensitivity to primate vocalizations, which narrows to human speech through experience. They also show early recognition of water sounds, with preferences for natural over artificial water sounds already at birth, indicating an evolutionary ancient sensitivity. However, this ability undergoes refinement with age and experience. The few studies available suggest that infants' auditory processing of natural sounds is complex and influenced by both genetic predispositions and exposure. Building on these existing results, this review highlights the need for ecologically valid experimental paradigms that better represent the natural auditory environments humans evolved in. Understanding how children process natural soundscapes not only deepens our understanding of auditory development but also offers practical insights for advancing environmental awareness, improving auditory interventions for children with hearing loss, and promoting wellbeing through exposure to natural sounds. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-5cf4f38fa13440dc891f7a77725d3146 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
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| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj-art-5cf4f38fa13440dc891f7a77725d31462025-08-20T02:38:17ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782024-12-011510.3389/fpsyg.2024.14749611474961Developmental origins of natural sound perceptionSilvia Polver0Silvia Polver1Nicole Miller-Viacava2Matthieu Fraticelli3Judit Gervain4Judit Gervain5Judit Gervain6Christian Lorenzi7Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, ItalyPadova Neuroscience Center, University of Padua, Padua, ItalyLaboratoire des Systèmes Perceptifs, UMR CNRS 8248, Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL University, Paris, FranceLaboratoire des Systèmes Perceptifs, UMR CNRS 8248, Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL University, Paris, FranceDepartment of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, ItalyPadova Neuroscience Center, University of Padua, Padua, ItalyIntegrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center, UMR8002, Université Paris Cité and CNRS, Paris, FranceLaboratoire des Systèmes Perceptifs, UMR CNRS 8248, Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL University, Paris, FranceInfants are exposed to a myriad of sounds early in life, including caregivers' speech, songs, human-made and natural (non-anthropogenic) environmental sounds. While decades of research have established that infants have sophisticated perceptual abilities to process speech, less is known about how they perceive natural environmental sounds. This review synthesizes current findings about the perception of natural environmental sounds in the first years of life, emphasizing their role in auditory development and describing how these studies contribute to the emerging field of human auditory ecology. Some of the existing studies explore infants' responses to animal vocalizations and water sounds. Infants demonstrate an initial broad sensitivity to primate vocalizations, which narrows to human speech through experience. They also show early recognition of water sounds, with preferences for natural over artificial water sounds already at birth, indicating an evolutionary ancient sensitivity. However, this ability undergoes refinement with age and experience. The few studies available suggest that infants' auditory processing of natural sounds is complex and influenced by both genetic predispositions and exposure. Building on these existing results, this review highlights the need for ecologically valid experimental paradigms that better represent the natural auditory environments humans evolved in. Understanding how children process natural soundscapes not only deepens our understanding of auditory development but also offers practical insights for advancing environmental awareness, improving auditory interventions for children with hearing loss, and promoting wellbeing through exposure to natural sounds.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1474961/fullhuman auditory ecologyauditory developmentinfantschildrenenvironmental soundsnatural soundscapes |
| spellingShingle | Silvia Polver Silvia Polver Nicole Miller-Viacava Matthieu Fraticelli Judit Gervain Judit Gervain Judit Gervain Christian Lorenzi Developmental origins of natural sound perception Frontiers in Psychology human auditory ecology auditory development infants children environmental sounds natural soundscapes |
| title | Developmental origins of natural sound perception |
| title_full | Developmental origins of natural sound perception |
| title_fullStr | Developmental origins of natural sound perception |
| title_full_unstemmed | Developmental origins of natural sound perception |
| title_short | Developmental origins of natural sound perception |
| title_sort | developmental origins of natural sound perception |
| topic | human auditory ecology auditory development infants children environmental sounds natural soundscapes |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1474961/full |
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