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language development

·October 14, 2025·9 min read

Mother’s Voice Boosts Language Development in Babies

Hearing their mother’s voice may help premature babies develop stronger language pathways in the brain. In a groundbreaking study, preemies who regularly listened to recordings of their mothers reading had more mature language-related brain connections than those who did not.

This shows people of different ages and speech bubbles.

Featured Neuroscience

·September 8, 2025·3 min read

How Teens and Adults Really Change Language

For decades, scholars believed children’s speech errors were the seeds of language change, but new research challenges that view. The study argues that everyday language use among adolescents and adults, not children, is the real driver of linguistic evolution.

This shows a mom and baby surrounded by speech bubbles.

Featured Neuroscience

·September 4, 2025·5 min read

Why Babies Babble: New Clues Reveal Language Origins

Human babies’ babbling is more than cute noise—it’s a feedback-driven learning strategy that sets the foundation for language. A new study shows that marmoset monkeys, despite being distant relatives, also babble and learn faster when adults respond, suggesting a shared mechanism.

Featured Neuroscience

·December 17, 2024·4 min read

Baby Babble Syncs With Heartbeats to Shape Speech Development

Infants' heart rate rhythms are closely linked to their early vocalizations, including coos, babbles, and emerging words. Researchers found that babies were most likely to produce sounds when their heart rate reached a peak or trough, with speech-like sounds occurring during heart rate deceleration.

Autism Featured Neuroscience

·October 25, 2024·8 min read

Autistic Children’s Fascination with Letters Offers Learning Clues

A recent study highlights that many autistic children show an intense interest in letters and numbers, which may play a distinct role in their language development. By analyzing clinical records and interviewing parents, researchers found that 37% of autistic children had a strong interest in letters, in contrast to just 3% of non-autistic peers. This interest often emerges around 30 months, aligning with typical development timelines but diverging in how it's applied.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·May 29, 2024·4 min read

Babies’ Squeals and Growls Show Early Vocal Practice Patterns

Infants' vocalizations, like squeals and growls, appear in significant clusters, suggesting active noisemaking play and sound practice. Researchers analyzed recordings from 130 infants and found 40% of squeals and growls clustered significantly.

Autism Featured Neuroscience

·April 22, 2024·6 min read

Breaking Down Language Development in Autism

Researchers conducted a novel study on language development in autistic children, revealing that it does not follow a linear path but progresses through three distinct stages.

Featured Neuroscience

·March 15, 2024·3 min read

Brain Abnormalities in Children with Developmental Language Disorder

Researchers have discovered that the anterior neostriatum, a part of the brain linked with movement, shows abnormalities in children with developmental language impairments. This study utilized a novel computational approach to analyze data from 22 studies, revealing that these abnormalities are uniquely prevalent in the anterior neostriatum.

Featured Neuroscience

·March 6, 2024·6 min read

Household Size Shapes Child Language Development

Researchers shed light on the impact of household size and adult-to-child ratios on children's language development, challenging conventional beliefs about family dynamics. The team found that while higher household density negatively affects vocabulary scores, a greater number of adults relative to children in the home can enhance language skills, especially in Hispanic families.

Featured Neuroscience

·October 26, 2023·7 min read

Decoding Baby Talk: How Adults Understand Early Linguistic Efforts

New research delves into how adults make sense of the limited vocabulary of young children. Through analyzing thousands of hours of transcribed audio, researchers created computational models to understand adult interpretations of baby talk.

Autism Featured Neuroscience

·July 31, 2023·5 min read

Autism Study Unveils New Genetic Players and Role of Language Delay

Researchers shed new light on how genetics may influence the development of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The study, the largest ever to focus on families with multiple children diagnosed with autism, has revealed seven potential risk genes.