Baby babbling at five months linked to sex hormone levels in early infancy |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Center for Pre-speech Development and Developmental Disorders, Department of Orthodontics, University of Wuerzburg, Germany;2. German Center for Growth, Development and Health Encouragement during Childhood and Youth, Children’s Hospital Berlin-Lindenhof, Germany;3. Charité – University Medicine, Institute for Experimental Paediatric Endocrinology, Berlin, Germany;4. Department of Mathematics (Statistics), University of Wuerzburg, Germany;5. IT Center, University of Wuerzburg, Germany;1. School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, U.S.A.;2. Institute for Human Origins, Arizona State University, Philadelphia, PA, U.S.A.;3. Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, U.S.A.;4. Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, U.S.A.;1. The University of Texas at Austin, 6.9E Cockrell Jr. Hall, Austin, TX 78712, United States;2. Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, United States;1. Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA;2. Department of Psychology, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA |
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| Abstract: | Gender-dependent differentiation of the brain at morphological, neurochemical and functional levels of organization have been shown to be primarily controlled by sex differences in gonadal hormone concentrations during pre- and early postnatal development. Indeed, previous studies have reported that pre- and perinatal hormonal environments influence brain development and, consequently, affect sex specific long-term language outcomes.Herein, we investigated whether postnatal surges of estrogen (estradiol) and androgen (testosterone) may predict properties of pre-speech babbling at five months. This study is the first attempt to investigate a possible correlation between sex hormones and infants’ articulatory skills during the typical postnatal period of extended hormonal activity known as ‘mini-puberty.’ A hierarchical, multiple regression approach revealed a significant, robust positive relationship between 4-week concentrations of estradiol and individual articulatory skills. In contrast, testosterone concentrations at five months negatively correlated with articulatory skills at the same age in both boys and girls. Our findings reinforce the assumption of the importance of sex hormones for auditory–vocal development towards language in human infants. |
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| Keywords: | Infant Babbling Sex hormones Estradiol Testosterone Articulation Language development |
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