Naturalistic Language Input is Associated with Resting-State Functional Connectivity in Infancy

Lucy S. King · M. Catalina Camacho · David F. Montez · Kathryn Leigh Humphreys · Ian H. Gotlib

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Language Development and Disorders Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism Functional Brain Connectivity Studies

Abstract

The quantity and quality of the language input that infants receive from their caregivers affects their future language abilities; however, it is unclear how variation in this input relates to preverbal brain circuitry. The current study investigated the relation between naturalistic language input and the functional connectivity (FC) of language networks in human infancy using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI). We recorded the naturalistic language environments of five- to eight-month-old male and female infants using the Linguistic ENvironment Analysis (LENA) system and measured the quantity and consistency of their exposure to adult words (AWs) and adult-infant conversational turns (CTs). Infants completed an rsfMRI scan during natural sleep, and we examined FC among regions of interest (ROIs) previously implicated in language comprehension, including the auditory cortex, the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and the bilateral superior temporal gyrus (STG). Consistent with theory of the ontogeny of the cortical language network (Skeide and Friederici, 2016), we identified two subnetworks posited to have distinct developmental trajectories: a posterior temporal network involving connections of the auditory cortex and bilateral STG and a frontotemporal network involving connections of the left IFG. Independent of socioeconomic status (SES), the quantity of CTs was uniquely associated with FC of these networks. Infants who engaged in a larger number of CTs in daily life had lower connectivity in the posterior temporal language network. These results provide evidence for the role of vocal interactions with caregivers, compared with overheard adult speech, in the function of language networks in infancy.

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References

2011Nipype: A Flexible, Lightweight and Extensible Neuroimaging Data Processing Framework in Python 2012SES differences in language processing skill and vocabulary are evident at 18 months 2013Talking to Children Matters 1989A cross-language study of prosodic modifications in mothers' and fathers' speech to preverbal infants 2018Beyond the 30-Million-Word Gap: Children’s Conversational Exposure Is Associated With Language-Related Brain Function 2005Infant‐Directed Speech Facilitates Word Segmentation 2013Development and Assessment of Short and Very Short Forms of the Infant Behavior Questionnaire–Revised 2009Teaching by Listening: The Importance of Adult-Child Conversations to Language Development

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