Brain responses to human‐voice processing predict child development and intelligence

Abstract

Children make rapid transitions in their neural and intellectual development. Compared to other brain regions, the auditory cortex slowly matures, and children show immature auditory brain activity. This auditory neural plasticity largely occurs as a response to human-voice stimuli, which are presented more often than other stimuli, and can even be observed in the brainstem. Early psychologists have proposed that sensory processing and intelligence are closely related to each other. In the present study, we identified brain activity related to human-voice processing and investigated a crucial neural correlate of child development and intelligence. We also examined the neurophysiological activity patterns during human-voice processing in young children aged 3 to 8 years. We investigated auditory evoked fields (AEFs) and oscillatory changes using child-customized magnetoencephalography within a short recording time (<6 min). We examined the P1m component of AEFs, which is a predominant component observed in young children. The amplitude of the left P1m was highly correlated with age, and the amplitude of the right P1m was highly correlated with the intelligence quotient. For auditory-related oscillatory changes, we found a positive correlation between the intelligence quotient and percent change of gamma increase relative to baseline in the right auditory cortex. We replicated the finding of age-related changes in auditory brain activity in young children, which is related to the slow maturation of the auditory cortex. In addition, these results suggest a close link between intelligence and auditory sensory processing, especially in the right hemisphere. K E Y W O R D S auditory system, child development, event-related fields, gamma oscillations, intelligence, magnetoencephalography

The Correlation between Children’s Intelligence Quotient and Their Behavior in Dental Setting: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…However, considering pediatric patients, auditory stimuli tend to be less restrictive. An et al found a positive correlation between the intelligence quotient and percent change of gamma increase relative to baseline in the auditory cortex [23]. The results of this study BioMed Research International are in line with the current study's findings.…”

Non-verbal skills in auditory word processing: Implications for typical and dyslexic readers

“…Several EEG studies exploring these questions support behavioral evidence linking domain-general NV IQ abilities to early stages of auditory word processing in children. Using EEG, An et al (2020) investigated children’s (3–8 years old) responses to human voice and found IQ to be correlated with the P100 response amplitude and gamma oscillatory power changes, consistent with early behavioral work (Baltes & Lindenberger, 1997; Lindenberger & Baltes, 1994; Tomlin et al, 2015). Effects of NV IQ in children (7–9 years old) were also found on the N400 and P600 components in sentences with context effects (Hampton Wray & Weber-Fox, 2013).…”

Validação de conteúdo e de construto de sinais enunciativos de aquisição da linguagem no segundo ano de vida

“…Por isso, propõe-se que os sinais permitam acompanhar o curso de produção das praxias orais e tomar algumas medidas de orientação familiar e/ou intervenção a tempo de modo a aproveitar a plasticidade cerebral, visto que quanto mais precoce a intervenção melhores são as chances de superação dos sintomas. Isso motiva estudos neurocientíficos de análise de processamento sensorial precoce nos bebês (19) , bem como fatores socioeconômicos que podem interferir no desenvolvimento cerebral, sobretudo educação parental (20) . É possível utilizar a sustentação enunciativa (3)(4)(5) e estratégias prosódicas de ancoragem musical da gestualidade corporal e oral para facilitar a evolução dos bebês com risco psíquico e à aquisição da linguagem (21) .…”