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Article
Active auditory experience in infancy promotes brain plasticity in Theta and Gamma oscillations
Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Gabriella Musacchia, University of the Pacific
  • Silvia Ortiz-Mantilla, Rutgers University
  • Naseem Choudhury, Rutgers University
  • Teresa Realpe-Bonilla, Rutgers University
  • Cynthia P. Roesler, Rutgers University
  • April A. Benasich, Rutgers University
Department
Audiology
Abstract

Language acquisition in infants is driven by on-going neural plasticity that is acutely sensitive to environmental acoustic cues. Recent studies showed that attention-based experience with non-linguistic, temporally-modulated auditory stimuli sharpens cortical responses. A previous ERP study from this laboratory showed that interactive auditory experience via behavior-based feedback (AEx), over a 6-week period from 4- to 7-months-of-age, confers a processing advantage, compared to passive auditory exposure (PEx) or maturation alone (Naïve Control, NC). Here, we provide a follow-up investigation of the underlying neural oscillatory patterns in these three groups. In AEx infants, Standard stimuli with invariant frequency (STD) elicited greater Theta-band (4–6 Hz) activity in Right Auditory Cortex (RAC), as compared to NC infants, and Deviant stimuli with rapid frequency change (DEV) elicited larger responses in Left Auditory Cortex (LAC). PEx and NC counterparts showed less-mature bilateral patterns. AEx infants also displayed stronger Gamma (33–37 Hz) activity in the LAC during DEV discrimination, compared to NCs, while NC and PEx groups demonstrated bilateral activity in this band, if at all. This suggests that interactive acoustic experience with non-linguistic stimuli can promote a distinct, robust and precise cortical pattern during rapid auditory processing, perhaps reflecting mechanisms that support fine-tuning of early acoustic mapping.

Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-1-2017
DOI
10.1016/j.dcn.2017.04.004
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Citation Information
Gabriella Musacchia, Silvia Ortiz-Mantilla, Naseem Choudhury, Teresa Realpe-Bonilla, et al.. "Active auditory experience in infancy promotes brain plasticity in Theta and Gamma oscillations" Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Vol. 26 (2017) p. 9 - 19 ISSN: 1878-9293
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/gabriella-musacchia/48/