Prenatal linguistic exposure shapes language brain responses at birth
Abstract Newborns have an immature brain network responsible for speech processing that resembles the adult language network. However, it remains unclear how prenatal experience modulates this network. To test this, we exposed 39 fetuses to a story in their native language and in a foreign language...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Communications Biology |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-08594-8 |
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| author | Andréanne René Laura Caron-Desrochers Julie Tremblay Phetsamone Vannasing Kassandra Roger Solène Fourdain Laurence Petitpas Catherine Taillefer Isabelle Boucoiran Judit Gervain Natacha Paquette Anne Gallagher |
| author_facet | Andréanne René Laura Caron-Desrochers Julie Tremblay Phetsamone Vannasing Kassandra Roger Solène Fourdain Laurence Petitpas Catherine Taillefer Isabelle Boucoiran Judit Gervain Natacha Paquette Anne Gallagher |
| author_sort | Andréanne René |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Newborns have an immature brain network responsible for speech processing that resembles the adult language network. However, it remains unclear how prenatal experience modulates this network. To test this, we exposed 39 fetuses to a story in their native language and in a foreign language during the last month of gestation, while another group of 21 fetuses received no experimental prenatal exposure. Within 3 days of life, neonates’ brain responses were recorded using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) whilst they listened to the same story in their native language and in two foreign languages, one of which neonates had been prenatally exposed to. Results revealed that brain responses to the native language and the prenatally exposed foreign language were similar, whereas they differed in the left temporal and right prefrontal regions when listening to a prenatally unexposed foreign language. Findings indicate that foetuses’ linguistic environment influences speech processing at birth. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-99b0e1e3cd2a4440aaa9647397334e2a |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2399-3642 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Communications Biology |
| spelling | doaj-art-99b0e1e3cd2a4440aaa9647397334e2a2025-08-20T04:02:56ZengNature PortfolioCommunications Biology2399-36422025-08-018111110.1038/s42003-025-08594-8Prenatal linguistic exposure shapes language brain responses at birthAndréanne René0Laura Caron-Desrochers1Julie Tremblay2Phetsamone Vannasing3Kassandra Roger4Solène Fourdain5Laurence Petitpas6Catherine Taillefer7Isabelle Boucoiran8Judit Gervain9Natacha Paquette10Anne Gallagher11Laboratoire d’Imagerie Optique en Neurodéveloppement (LIONlab), Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research CenterLaboratoire d’Imagerie Optique en Neurodéveloppement (LIONlab), Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research CenterLaboratoire d’Imagerie Optique en Neurodéveloppement (LIONlab), Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research CenterLaboratoire d’Imagerie Optique en Neurodéveloppement (LIONlab), Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research CenterLaboratoire d’Imagerie Optique en Neurodéveloppement (LIONlab), Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research CenterLaboratoire d’Imagerie Optique en Neurodéveloppement (LIONlab), Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research CenterLaboratoire d’Imagerie Optique en Neurodéveloppement (LIONlab), Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research CenterDepartment of Obstetrics-Gynecology, Sainte-Justine University Hospital & University of MontrealDepartment of Obstetrics-Gynecology, Sainte-Justine University Hospital & University of MontrealDepartment of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of PaduaLaboratoire d’Imagerie Optique en Neurodéveloppement (LIONlab), Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research CenterLaboratoire d’Imagerie Optique en Neurodéveloppement (LIONlab), Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research CenterAbstract Newborns have an immature brain network responsible for speech processing that resembles the adult language network. However, it remains unclear how prenatal experience modulates this network. To test this, we exposed 39 fetuses to a story in their native language and in a foreign language during the last month of gestation, while another group of 21 fetuses received no experimental prenatal exposure. Within 3 days of life, neonates’ brain responses were recorded using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) whilst they listened to the same story in their native language and in two foreign languages, one of which neonates had been prenatally exposed to. Results revealed that brain responses to the native language and the prenatally exposed foreign language were similar, whereas they differed in the left temporal and right prefrontal regions when listening to a prenatally unexposed foreign language. Findings indicate that foetuses’ linguistic environment influences speech processing at birth.https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-08594-8 |
| spellingShingle | Andréanne René Laura Caron-Desrochers Julie Tremblay Phetsamone Vannasing Kassandra Roger Solène Fourdain Laurence Petitpas Catherine Taillefer Isabelle Boucoiran Judit Gervain Natacha Paquette Anne Gallagher Prenatal linguistic exposure shapes language brain responses at birth Communications Biology |
| title | Prenatal linguistic exposure shapes language brain responses at birth |
| title_full | Prenatal linguistic exposure shapes language brain responses at birth |
| title_fullStr | Prenatal linguistic exposure shapes language brain responses at birth |
| title_full_unstemmed | Prenatal linguistic exposure shapes language brain responses at birth |
| title_short | Prenatal linguistic exposure shapes language brain responses at birth |
| title_sort | prenatal linguistic exposure shapes language brain responses at birth |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-08594-8 |
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