Infant intermodal speech perception is a left-hemisphere function.
Prelinguistic infants recognized structural correspondences in acoustic and optic properties of synchronized, naturally spoken disyllables, but did so only when they were looking to their right sides. This result suggests that intermodal speech perception is facilitated by rightward orientation of attention and subserved by the left hemisphere.
D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*