Human brain demonstrates amazing readiness for speech and language learning at birth, but the auditory development preceding such readiness remains unknown. Cochlear implanted (CI) children (n = 67; mean age 2.77 year ± 1.31 SD; 28 females) with prelingual deafness provide a unique opportunity to study this stage. Using functional near‐infrared spectroscopy, it was revealed that the brain of CI children was irresponsive to sounds at CI hearing onset. With increasing CI experiences up to 32 months, the brain demonstrated function, region and hemisphere specific development. Most strikingly, the left anterior temporal lobe showed an oscillatory trajectory, changing in opposite phases for speech and noise. The study provides the first longitudinal brain imaging evidence for early auditory development preceding speech acquisition.

中文翻译：

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人工耳蜗植入幼儿言语和噪声处理的反相振荡发展

人类大脑在出生时就表现出惊人的言语和语言学习准备能力，但在这种准备之前的听觉发育仍然未知。人工耳蜗植入 (CI) 儿童（n= 67；平均年龄 2.77 岁 ± 1.31 标准差； 28 名女性）患有语前耳聋，为研究这一阶段提供了独特的机会。使用功能性近红外光谱分析发现，CI 儿童的大脑在 CI 听力开始时对声音没有反应。随着 CI 经验的增加长达 32 个月，大脑表现出功能、区域和半球的特定发育。最引人注目的是，左前颞叶显示出振荡轨迹，语音和噪声以相反的相位变化。该研究为语音习得之前的早期听觉发育提供了第一个纵向脑成像证据。