Babies actually start processing language and speech incredibly early. Even while in the womb, they learn to discern voices, along with some speech sounds. At birth, they already prefer speech sounds over other types of non-language sounds.
But exactly how the baby brain learns to process complex language sounds is still a bit of a mystery. In our recent study, published in Nature Human Behaviour, we uncovered details of this mindbogglingly speedy learning process – starting in the first few hours of birth.
Even though our brain has a predisposition to learn based on its organisation and function defined by the genetic code inherited from our parents, it is also able to feel the environment as soon as it is born, and this immediately helps our internal representations of the world around us.
I would suggest that you not only talk to your baby but also share with them all sorts of sensory experiences of the world as soon as they are in your arms – be it exposing them to music, letting them smell flowers or showing them objects or views they’ve never seen before. By encouraging more varied experiences, you give the baby brain new avenues to grow and develop, and probably more creative abilities for the future.
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