Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Special Feature Articles - Most Recent
    • Special Features
    • Colloquia
    • Collected Articles
    • PNAS Classics
    • List of Issues
  • Front Matter
    • Front Matter Portal
    • Journal Club
  • News
    • For the Press
    • This Week In PNAS
    • PNAS in the News
  • Podcasts
  • Authors
    • Information for Authors
    • Editorial and Journal Policies
    • Submission Procedures
    • Fees and Licenses
  • Submit
  • Submit
  • About
    • Editorial Board
    • PNAS Staff
    • FAQ
    • Accessibility Statement
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Site Map
  • Contact
  • Journal Club
  • Subscribe
    • Subscription Rates
    • Subscriptions FAQ
    • Open Access
    • Recommend PNAS to Your Librarian

User menu

  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Home
Home
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Special Feature Articles - Most Recent
    • Special Features
    • Colloquia
    • Collected Articles
    • PNAS Classics
    • List of Issues
  • Front Matter
    • Front Matter Portal
    • Journal Club
  • News
    • For the Press
    • This Week In PNAS
    • PNAS in the News
  • Podcasts
  • Authors
    • Information for Authors
    • Editorial and Journal Policies
    • Submission Procedures
    • Fees and Licenses
  • Submit
Research Article

Learning-induced neural plasticity of speech processing before birth

Eino Partanen, Teija Kujala, Risto Näätänen, Auli Liitola, Anke Sambeth, and Minna Huotilainen
  1. aCognitive Brain Research Unit, Cognitive Science, Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Helsinki, 00014, Helsinki, Finland;
  2. bFinnish Center of Excellence in Interdisciplinary Music Research, Department of Music, University of Jyväskylä, 40014, Jyväskylä, Finland;
  3. cCicero Learning, University of Helsinki, 00014, Helsinki, Finland;
  4. dDepartment of Psychology, University of Tartu, 50410 Tartu, Estonia;
  5. eCenter of Functionally Integrative Neurosciences, University of Aarhus, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark;
  6. fDepartment of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands; and
  7. gFinnish Institute of Occupational Health, 00250, Helsinki, Finland

See allHide authors and affiliations

PNAS first published August 26, 2013; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1302159110
Eino Partanen
aCognitive Brain Research Unit, Cognitive Science, Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Helsinki, 00014, Helsinki, Finland;
bFinnish Center of Excellence in Interdisciplinary Music Research, Department of Music, University of Jyväskylä, 40014, Jyväskylä, Finland;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: eino.partanen@helsinki.fi
Teija Kujala
aCognitive Brain Research Unit, Cognitive Science, Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Helsinki, 00014, Helsinki, Finland;
cCicero Learning, University of Helsinki, 00014, Helsinki, Finland;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Risto Näätänen
aCognitive Brain Research Unit, Cognitive Science, Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Helsinki, 00014, Helsinki, Finland;
dDepartment of Psychology, University of Tartu, 50410 Tartu, Estonia;
eCenter of Functionally Integrative Neurosciences, University of Aarhus, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Auli Liitola
aCognitive Brain Research Unit, Cognitive Science, Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Helsinki, 00014, Helsinki, Finland;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Anke Sambeth
fDepartment of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands; and
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Minna Huotilainen
aCognitive Brain Research Unit, Cognitive Science, Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Helsinki, 00014, Helsinki, Finland;
bFinnish Center of Excellence in Interdisciplinary Music Research, Department of Music, University of Jyväskylä, 40014, Jyväskylä, Finland;
gFinnish Institute of Occupational Health, 00250, Helsinki, Finland
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  1. Edited by Michael I. Posner, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, and approved July 22, 2013 (received for review February 1, 2013)

  • Article
  • Figures & SI
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Significance

Learning, the foundation of adaptive and intelligent behavior, is based on changes in neural assemblies and reflected by the modulation of electric brain responses. In infancy, long-term memory traces are formed by auditory learning, improving discrimination skills, in particular those relevant for speech perception and understanding. Here we show direct neural evidence that neural memory traces are formed by auditory learning prior to birth. Our findings indicate that prenatal experiences have a remarkable influence on the brain’s auditory discrimination accuracy, which may support, for example, language acquisition during infancy. Consequently, our results also imply that it might be possible to support early auditory development and potentially compensate for difficulties of genetic nature, such as language impairment or dyslexia.

Abstract

Learning, the foundation of adaptive and intelligent behavior, is based on plastic changes in neural assemblies, reflected by the modulation of electric brain responses. In infancy, auditory learning implicates the formation and strengthening of neural long-term memory traces, improving discrimination skills, in particular those forming the prerequisites for speech perception and understanding. Although previous behavioral observations show that newborns react differentially to unfamiliar sounds vs. familiar sound material that they were exposed to as fetuses, the neural basis of fetal learning has not thus far been investigated. Here we demonstrate direct neural correlates of human fetal learning of speech-like auditory stimuli. We presented variants of words to fetuses; unlike infants with no exposure to these stimuli, the exposed fetuses showed enhanced brain activity (mismatch responses) in response to pitch changes for the trained variants after birth. Furthermore, a significant correlation existed between the amount of prenatal exposure and brain activity, with greater activity being associated with a higher amount of prenatal speech exposure. Moreover, the learning effect was generalized to other types of similar speech sounds not included in the training material. Consequently, our results indicate neural commitment specifically tuned to the speech features heard before birth and their memory representations.

  • mismatch negativity
  • event-related potentials

Footnotes

  • ↵1To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: eino.partanen{at}helsinki.fi.
  • Author contributions: E.P., T.K., A.L., and M.H. designed research; E.P. and A.L. performed research; E.P., A.L., and A.S. analyzed data; and E.P., T.K., R.N., and M.H. wrote the paper.

  • The authors declare no conflict of interest.

  • This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.

  • This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1302159110/-/DCSupplemental.

Next
Back to top
Article Alerts
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on PNAS.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Learning-induced neural plasticity of speech processing before birth
(Your Name) has sent you a message from PNAS
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the PNAS web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Fetal brain learns to process speech
Eino Partanen, Teija Kujala, Risto Näätänen, Auli Liitola, Anke Sambeth, Minna Huotilainen
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Aug 2013, 201302159; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1302159110

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Request Permissions
Share
Fetal brain learns to process speech
Eino Partanen, Teija Kujala, Risto Näätänen, Auli Liitola, Anke Sambeth, Minna Huotilainen
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Aug 2013, 201302159; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1302159110
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Mendeley logo Mendeley
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: 118 (15)
Current Issue

Submit

Sign up for Article Alerts

Jump to section

  • Article
  • Figures & SI
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

You May Also be Interested in

Smoke emanates from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant a few days after tsunami damage
Core Concept: Muography offers a new way to see inside a multitude of objects
Muons penetrate much further than X-rays, they do essentially zero damage, and they are provided for free by the cosmos.
Image credit: Science Source/Digital Globe.
Water from a faucet fills a glass.
News Feature: How “forever chemicals” might impair the immune system
Researchers are exploring whether these ubiquitous fluorinated molecules might worsen infections or hamper vaccine effectiveness.
Image credit: Shutterstock/Dmitry Naumov.
Venus flytrap captures a fly.
Journal Club: Venus flytrap mechanism could shed light on how plants sense touch
One protein seems to play a key role in touch sensitivity for flytraps and other meat-eating plants.
Image credit: Shutterstock/Kuttelvaserova Stuchelova.
Illustration of groups of people chatting
Exploring the length of human conversations
Adam Mastroianni and Daniel Gilbert explore why conversations almost never end when people want them to.
Listen
Past PodcastsSubscribe
Panda bear hanging in a tree
How horse manure helps giant pandas tolerate cold
A study finds that giant pandas roll in horse manure to increase their cold tolerance.
Image credit: Fuwen Wei.

Similar Articles

Site Logo
Powered by HighWire
  • Submit Manuscript
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • RSS Feeds
  • Email Alerts

Articles

  • Current Issue
  • Special Feature Articles – Most Recent
  • List of Issues

PNAS Portals

  • Anthropology
  • Chemistry
  • Classics
  • Front Matter
  • Physics
  • Sustainability Science
  • Teaching Resources

Information

  • Authors
  • Editorial Board
  • Reviewers
  • Subscribers
  • Librarians
  • Press
  • Cozzarelli Prize
  • Site Map
  • PNAS Updates
  • FAQs
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Rights & Permissions
  • About
  • Contact

Feedback    Privacy/Legal

Copyright © 2021 National Academy of Sciences. Online ISSN 1091-6490