Háden, G.P., Honing, H., Török, M. & Winkler, I. (2015). Detecting the temporal structure of sound sequences in newborn infants. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 96, 23-28. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2015.02.024

Most high-level auditory functions require one to detect the onset and offset of sound sequences aswell as reg- istering the rate atwhich sounds are presented within the sound trains. By recording event-related brain poten- tials to onsets and offsets of tone trains aswell as to changes in the presentation rate, we tested whether these fundamental auditory capabilities are functional at birth. Each of these events elicited significant event-related potential components in sleeping healthy neonates. The data thus demonstrate that the newborn brain is sensitive to these acoustic features suggesting that infants are geared towards the temporal aspects of segregat- ing sound sources, speech andmusic perception already at birth.

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