Parental Speech Boosts Infant Brain Development.
Caregiver speech significantly enhances infants’ brain development and long-term language abilities, according to new research that used MRI and audio recordings to demonstrate a clear association between the amount of words infants hear from their caregivers and the development of their brain’s white matter, which facilitates information processing. The study suggests that parental engagement in the form of verbal interaction can be a potent tool in fostering their children’s cognitive development.