Activation for newly learned words in left medial-temporal lobe during toddlers' sleep is associated with memory for words.

ABSTRACT: Little is known about the neural substrates underlying early memory functioning. To gain more insight, we examined how toddlers remember newly learned words. Hippocampal and anterior medial-temporal lobe (MTL) processes have been hypothesized to support forming and retaining the association between novel words and their referents, but direct evidence of this connection in early childhood is lacking. We assessed 2-year-olds (n = 38) for their memory of newly learned pseudowords associated with novel objects and puppets. We tested memory for these associations during the same session as learning and after a 1-week delay. We then played these pseudowords, previously known words, and completely novel pseudowords during natural nocturnal sleep, while collecting functional magnetic resonance ima

SUBMITTER: Johnson EG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8696684 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature