Dichotic perception and laterality in neonates.
Groups of 4-day-old neonates were tested for dichotic discrimination and ear differences with the High-Amplitude-Sucking procedure. In the first experiment, dichotic speech discrimination was attested by comparison with a control group. Furthermore, among those subjects who showed a substantial recovery of sucking response at least after one of the two syllable changes, it was observed that significantly more subjects manifested a stronger reaction to a right-ear change than to a left-ear change. In the second experiment, 4-day-old neonates were tested on syllable and music timbre discrimination. The significant Stimulus Type x Ear interaction observed suggests perceptual asymmetries indicative of very precocious brain specialization.
Bertoncini
J
J
Laboratoire de Sciences Cognitives et Psycholinguistique CNRS, Paris.
Morais
J
J
Bijeljac-Babic
R
R
McAdams
S
S
Peretz
I
I
Mehler
J
J
D001143:Arousal; D004007:Dichotic Listening Tests; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic; D006320:Hearing Tests; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn / Q000523:psychology*; D009146:Music; D010700:Phonetics; D013067:Speech Perception; D013391:Sucking Behavior