嬰兒的大腦發(fā)育離不開母親的嗓音

Mothers’ Sounds Are Building Block for Babies’ Brains

嬰兒的大腦發(fā)育離不開母親的嗓音

The sound of a mother’s voice plays a critical role in a baby’s early development, multiple studies have shown. Now, researchers have demonstrated that the brain itself may rely on a mother’s voice and heartbeat to grow.

多項研究表明，母親的嗓音在嬰兒早期發(fā)育中起著重要作用?，F在，研究人員發(fā)現，大腦本身可能要依靠母親的嗓音和心跳聲進行發(fā)育。

Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston studied 40 babies born eight to 15 weeks prematurely. Like most severely premature babies, the infants were confined to incubators and spent limited time with their mothers.

波士頓布里格姆婦科醫(yī)院(Brigham and Women’s Hospital)的研究員們調查了40名早產8至15周的嬰兒。和大多數嚴重早產的嬰兒一樣，他們被放在恒溫箱里，和媽媽在一起的時間很有限。

“Preemies born this early are basically fetuses that happen to be out there by accident,” said Amir Lahav, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and senior author of the study.

“這么早出生的早產兒基本上還是胎兒，他們只是意外出生，”這項研究的高級作者、哈佛大學醫(yī)學院兒科學助理教授阿米爾·拉哈夫(Amir Lahav)說。

Using tiny speakers placed inside the incubators, half the babies were exposed to the sounds of their mothers’ voices and heartbeats for three extra hours every day. The other half received no additional exposure to such sounds.

研究者在其中一半嬰兒的恒溫箱里放入小揚聲器，播放母親的嗓音和心跳聲，每天播放三個小時。另一半嬰兒沒有聽到這樣的聲音。

After 30 days, babies in the first group had developed a significantly larger auditory cortex — the hearing center of the brain — than those in the second group. The findings, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could help guide doctors and parents caring for premature babies, who often suffer from developmental and cognitive disabilities.

30天后，第一組嬰兒的聽覺皮層(大腦的聽覺中心)明顯比第二組嬰兒的大。這項研究發(fā)表在《國家科學院學報》(Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)上，它能幫助指導醫(yī)生和父母照顧早產兒。早產兒經常出現發(fā)育和認知障礙。