wednesday, 9 april 2025—12:15
Clément François - Cortical and subcortical neuroplasticity during early language development
Clément François, Laboratoire Parole et Langage, CNRS, Aix-Marseille University, Institute for Language Communication
The first two years of human life constitute a critical period for the development of language and communication. Event-related brain potentials and the frequency-following response can be used to decipher how speech sounds are encoded along the auditory pathway at both cortical and subcortical levels. Interestingly, previous studies in adults have demonstrated that experience can induce neural plasticity within these two structures, leading to an enhanced quality of speech sound encoding. However, the sensitivity of these brain structures to experience-dependent factors during early infancy remains poorly explored.
In this talk, I will present results from a large interdisciplinary project that aims to investigate the link between the development of speech sound encoding and the characteristics of the auditory input from 6 to 24 months of age. Preliminary results suggest (i) the presence of a late critical period between 18 and 24 months of age, and (ii) a strong influence of daily parent-child interactions on the brain responses to speech sounds, thereby highlighting the need to revise models of early human language development.
The meeting will take place in Bertelson room (Bat. D, 10th floor, Solbosch campus, Ixelles) or online at the link https://bit.ly/4i49EN1