HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Dehaene-Lambertz, G. Articles by Gliga, T. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Dehaene-Lambertz, G. Articles by Gliga, T.

Common Neural Basis for Phoneme Processing in Infants and Adults

INSERM-CEA
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Bicêtre

T. Gliga

INSERM-CEA

Investigating the degree of similarity between infants' and adults' representation of speech is critical to our understanding of infants' ability to acquire language. Phoneme perception plays a crucial role in language processing, and numerous behavioral studies have demonstrated similar capacities in infants and adults, but are these subserved by the same neural substrates or networks? In this article, we review event-related potential (ERP) results obtained in infants during phoneme discrimination tasks and compare them to results from the adult literature. The striking similarities observed both in behavior and ERPs between initial and mature stages suggest a continuity in processing and neural structure. We argue that infants have access at the beginning of life to phonemic representations, which are modified without training or implicit instruction, but by the statistical distributions of speech input in order to converge to the native phonemic categories.

Key Words: Language • MMN • phoneme • infant • brain specialization

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. Franklin, G. V. Drivonikou, L. Bevis, I. R. L. Davies, P. Kay, and T. Regier From the Cover: Categorical perception of color is lateralized to the right hemisphere in infants, but to the left hemisphere in adults PNAS, March 4, 2008; 105(9): 3221 - 3225. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Y. Minagawa-Kawai, K. Mori, N. Naoi, and S. Kojima Neural Attunement Processes in Infants during the Acquisition of a Language-Specific Phonemic Contrast J. Neurosci., January 10, 2007; 27(2): 315 - 321. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				N. Kazanina, C. Phillips, and W. Idsardi The influence of meaning on the perception of speech sounds PNAS, July 25, 2006; 103(30): 11381 - 11386. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]