Baby talk helps infants’ brains process language earlier: study

By Stephen Beech

Baby talk could play a key role in helping toddlers' early language development, according to new research.

Infant-directed speech - often referred to as ‘baby talk’ - helps infants learn the sounds of their language - well before they speak their first words, say scientists.

Researchers examined if the exaggerated pitch and speech sounds typical of infant-directed speech, or IDS, helps babies to distinguish between vowel sounds.

Study leader Dr. Varghese Peter said: “Infant-directed speech or ‘baby talk’ refers to the distinct voice and cadence parents use when speaking to babies – raising pitch, exaggerating speech sounds and shortening utterances.

“Previous research has consistently shown that infants prefer to listen to IDS, but whether it has any significance beyond this is under debate.”

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For the study, published in the journal Developmental Science, the Australian research team measured brain responses in four-month-olds and nine-month-olds, as well as adults, when they heard vowel sounds spoken in IDS and in adult-directed speech, the usual way adults talk.

Dr. Varghese Peter, from the University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, said: “In adults and in nine-month-old babies, the brain showed a well-known ‘change detection’ signal when it noticed the difference between vowels, regardless of how the speech was produced.

“But the four-month-old babies’ brain responses were different depending on the type of speech.

“When they heard vowels spoken in adult speech, their brains showed a less advanced response.

"However, when they heard the same vowels spoken in infant-directed speech, their brains produced a more advanced response, similar to that seen in older infants and adults."

He added: "In other words, 'baby talk' isn't silly at all; it may support early language learning from as young as four months of age."

Dr. Peter said the findings suggest that the exaggerated sounds in "baby talk" may make it easier for infants to tell speech sounds apart, helping them learn the sounds of their language long before they say their first words.