Language exposure during infancy is negatively associated with white matter microstructure in the arcuate fasciculus.

ABSTRACT: Decades of research have established that the home language environment, especially quality of caregiver speech, supports language acquisition during infancy. However, the neural mechanisms behind this phenomenon remain under studied. In the current study, we examined associations between the home language environment and structural coherence of white matter tracts in 52 typically developing infants from English speaking homes in a western society. Infants participated in at least one MRI brain scan when they were 3, 6, 12, and/or 24 months old. Home language recordings were collected when infants were 9 and/or 15 months old. General linear regression models indicated that infants who heard the most adult words and participated in the most conversational turns at 9 months of age also had t

SUBMITTER: Estrada KA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10130606 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature