Exposure to bilingual or monolingual maternal speech during pregnancy affects the neurophysiological encoding of speech sounds in neonates differently

ntroduction: Exposure to maternal speech during the prenatal period shapes speech perception and linguistic preferences, allowing neonates to recognize stories heard frequently in utero and demonstrating an enhanced preference for their mother’s voice and native language. Yet, with a high prevalence...

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Authors: Gorina-Careta, Natàlia, Arenillas-Alcón, Sonia, Puertollano Rodríguez, Marta, Mondéjar-Segovia, Alejandro, Ijjou-Kadiri, Siham, Costa Faidella, Jordi, Gómez Roig, Ma. Dolores, Escera i Micó, Carles
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2024
Country:España
Institution:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repository:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:2445/222604
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/222604
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Bilingüisme
Neuropsicologia pediàtrica
Adquisició del llenguatge
Bilingualism
Pediatric neuropsychology
Language acquisition
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spelling Exposure to bilingual or monolingual maternal speech during pregnancy affects the neurophysiological encoding of speech sounds in neonates differentlyGorina-Careta, NatàliaArenillas-Alcón, SoniaPuertollano Rodríguez, MartaMondéjar-Segovia, AlejandroIjjou-Kadiri, SihamCosta Faidella, JordiGómez Roig, Ma. DoloresEscera i Micó, CarlesBilingüismeNeuropsicologia pediàtricaAdquisició del llenguatgeBilingualismPediatric neuropsychologyLanguage acquisitionntroduction: Exposure to maternal speech during the prenatal period shapes speech perception and linguistic preferences, allowing neonates to recognize stories heard frequently in utero and demonstrating an enhanced preference for their mother’s voice and native language. Yet, with a high prevalence of bilingualism worldwide, it remains an open question whether monolingual or bilingual maternal speech during pregnancy influence differently the fetus’ neural mechanisms underlying speech sound encoding. Methods: In the present study, the frequency-following response (FFR), an auditory evoked potential that reflects the complex spectrotemporal dynamics of speech sounds, was recorded to a two-vowel /oa/ stimulus in a sample of 129 healthy term neonates within 1 to 3 days after birth. Newborns were divided into two groups according to maternal language usage during the last trimester of gestation (monolingual; bilingual). Spectral amplitudes and spectral signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) at the stimulus fundamental (F0) and first formant (F1) frequencies of each vowel were, respectively, taken as measures of pitch and formant structure neural encoding. Results: Our results reveal that while spectral amplitudes at F0 did not differ between groups, neonates from bilingual mothers exhibited a lower spectral SNR. Additionally, monolingually exposed neonates exhibited a higher spectral amplitude and SNR at F1 frequencies. Discussion: We interpret our results under the consideration that bilingual maternal speech, as compared to monolingual, is characterized by a greater complexity in the speech sound signal, rendering newborns from bilingual mothers more sensitive to a wider range of speech frequencies without generating a particularly strong response at any of them. Our results contribute to an expanding body of research indicating the influence of prenatal experiences on language acquisition and underscore the necessity of including prenatal language exposure in developmental studies on language acquisition, a variable often overlooked yet capable of influencing research outcomes.Frontiers Media2025202520242025info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion12 p.application/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/2445/222604Articles publicats en revistes (Ciències Clíniques)reponame:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunyainstname:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)InglésReproducció del document publicat a: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2024.1379660Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 2024, vol. 18https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2024.1379660cc-by (c) Gorina-Careta et al., 2024http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:recercat.cat:2445/2226042026-05-29T05:05:01Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Exposure to bilingual or monolingual maternal speech during pregnancy affects the neurophysiological encoding of speech sounds in neonates differently
title Exposure to bilingual or monolingual maternal speech during pregnancy affects the neurophysiological encoding of speech sounds in neonates differently
spellingShingle Exposure to bilingual or monolingual maternal speech during pregnancy affects the neurophysiological encoding of speech sounds in neonates differently
Gorina-Careta, Natàlia
Bilingüisme
Neuropsicologia pediàtrica
Adquisició del llenguatge
Bilingualism
Pediatric neuropsychology
Language acquisition
title_short Exposure to bilingual or monolingual maternal speech during pregnancy affects the neurophysiological encoding of speech sounds in neonates differently
title_full Exposure to bilingual or monolingual maternal speech during pregnancy affects the neurophysiological encoding of speech sounds in neonates differently
title_fullStr Exposure to bilingual or monolingual maternal speech during pregnancy affects the neurophysiological encoding of speech sounds in neonates differently
title_full_unstemmed Exposure to bilingual or monolingual maternal speech during pregnancy affects the neurophysiological encoding of speech sounds in neonates differently
title_sort Exposure to bilingual or monolingual maternal speech during pregnancy affects the neurophysiological encoding of speech sounds in neonates differently
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Gorina-Careta, Natàlia
Arenillas-Alcón, Sonia
Puertollano Rodríguez, Marta
Mondéjar-Segovia, Alejandro
Ijjou-Kadiri, Siham
Costa Faidella, Jordi
Gómez Roig, Ma. Dolores
Escera i Micó, Carles
author Gorina-Careta, Natàlia
author_facet Gorina-Careta, Natàlia
Arenillas-Alcón, Sonia
Puertollano Rodríguez, Marta
Mondéjar-Segovia, Alejandro
Ijjou-Kadiri, Siham
Costa Faidella, Jordi
Gómez Roig, Ma. Dolores
Escera i Micó, Carles
author_role author
author2 Arenillas-Alcón, Sonia
Puertollano Rodríguez, Marta
Mondéjar-Segovia, Alejandro
Ijjou-Kadiri, Siham
Costa Faidella, Jordi
Gómez Roig, Ma. Dolores
Escera i Micó, Carles
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Bilingüisme
Neuropsicologia pediàtrica
Adquisició del llenguatge
Bilingualism
Pediatric neuropsychology
Language acquisition
topic Bilingüisme
Neuropsicologia pediàtrica
Adquisició del llenguatge
Bilingualism
Pediatric neuropsychology
Language acquisition
description ntroduction: Exposure to maternal speech during the prenatal period shapes speech perception and linguistic preferences, allowing neonates to recognize stories heard frequently in utero and demonstrating an enhanced preference for their mother’s voice and native language. Yet, with a high prevalence of bilingualism worldwide, it remains an open question whether monolingual or bilingual maternal speech during pregnancy influence differently the fetus’ neural mechanisms underlying speech sound encoding. Methods: In the present study, the frequency-following response (FFR), an auditory evoked potential that reflects the complex spectrotemporal dynamics of speech sounds, was recorded to a two-vowel /oa/ stimulus in a sample of 129 healthy term neonates within 1 to 3 days after birth. Newborns were divided into two groups according to maternal language usage during the last trimester of gestation (monolingual; bilingual). Spectral amplitudes and spectral signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) at the stimulus fundamental (F0) and first formant (F1) frequencies of each vowel were, respectively, taken as measures of pitch and formant structure neural encoding. Results: Our results reveal that while spectral amplitudes at F0 did not differ between groups, neonates from bilingual mothers exhibited a lower spectral SNR. Additionally, monolingually exposed neonates exhibited a higher spectral amplitude and SNR at F1 frequencies. Discussion: We interpret our results under the consideration that bilingual maternal speech, as compared to monolingual, is characterized by a greater complexity in the speech sound signal, rendering newborns from bilingual mothers more sensitive to a wider range of speech frequencies without generating a particularly strong response at any of them. Our results contribute to an expanding body of research indicating the influence of prenatal experiences on language acquisition and underscore the necessity of including prenatal language exposure in developmental studies on language acquisition, a variable often overlooked yet capable of influencing research outcomes.
publishDate 2024
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2024
2025
2025
2025
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/2445/222604
url https://hdl.handle.net/2445/222604
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Reproducció del document publicat a: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2024.1379660
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 2024, vol. 18
https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2024.1379660
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv cc-by (c) Gorina-Careta et al., 2024
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv cc-by (c) Gorina-Careta et al., 2024
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv 12 p.
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Frontiers Media
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Frontiers Media
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv Articles publicats en revistes (Ciències Clíniques)
reponame:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
instname:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
instname_str Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
reponame_str Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
collection Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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