title: Rapid maturation of voice and linguistic processing systems in preschool children: a near-infrared spectroscopic study.
abstract: To better understand how voice and linguistic processing systems develop during the preschool years, changes in cerebral oxygenation were measured bilaterally from temporal areas using multi-channel near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). NIRS was recorded while children listened to their mothers' voice (MV), an unfamiliar female voice (UV) and environmental sound (ES) stimuli. Twenty typical children (aged 3-6years) were divided into younger (Y) (n=10, male=5; aged 3-4.5years) and older (O) (n=10, male=5; aged 4.5-6years) groups. In the Y group, while MV stimuli significantly activated anterior temporal areas with a right predominance compared to ES stimuli, they significantly activated left mid-temporal areas compared to UV stimuli. These temporal activations were significantly higher in the Y group compared to the O group. Furthermore, only the O group exhibited significant habituation and gender differences in the left mid-temporal area during MV perception. These findings suggest that the right voice-related and the left language-related temporal areas already exist in the Y group, and that MV stimuli modulate these areas differently in the two age groups. Therefore, we conclude that a mother's voice plays an important role in the maturation of the voice and linguistic processing systems, particularly during the first half of the preschool-aged period. This role may decrease during the latter half of the preschool-aged period due to rapid development of these systems as children age.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Neurological Institute, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan; Department of Neurology, Minkodo Minohara Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan. Electronic address: yamasa@neurophy.med.kyushu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Takao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamasaki
authors.forename: Katsuya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ogata
authors.forename: Toshihiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maekawa
authors.forename: Ikue
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ijichi
authors.forename: Masatoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Katagiri
authors.forename: Takako
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mitsudo
authors.forename: Yoko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kamio
authors.forename: Shozo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tobimatsu
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000254:growth & development*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008037:Linguistics; D008297:Male; D019265:Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D014831:Voice / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Development; Mother's voice; Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS); Preschool children; Voice and linguistic systems