33 Results Found

Aim: We compared early vocal development in children “at risk” for cerebral palsy (CP) with typically developing (TD) infants aged 6 to 15 months using the SAEVD-R, investigating potential pre-linguistic markers of communication impairmen...

The literature reports the benefits of multimodal interaction with the maternal voice for preterm dyads in kangaroo care. Little is known about multimodal interaction and vocal modulation between preterm mother–twin dyads. This study aims to deepen t...

The purpose of this study is to investigate the vocalization characteristics of infants with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the context of frustration. The duration and frequency of vocalization in 48 infants with ASD and 65 infants with typical d...

This review summarizes all reported and suspected functions of ultrasonic vocalizations in infant and adult rats. The review leads to the conclusion that all types of ultrasonic vocalizations subserving all functions are vocal expressions of emotiona...

Despite their potential significance for later linguistic outcomes, early aspects of vocalization had been seriously undervalued in the past, and thus, minimally investigated until relatively recently. The present article sets out to critically exami...

Background: Research in typically and some atypically developing populations showed associations between early motor and communication development, documenting how postural development can support communicative advancements. However, these relations...

Background: Early parental interventions in the Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) have beneficial effects on preterm infants’ short and long-term outcomes. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Early Vocal Contact (EVC)&md...

Background: Understanding the origin and natural organization of early infant vocalizations is important for predicting communication and language abilities in later years. The very frequent production of speech-like vocalizations (hereafter “p...

Preterm infants are at risk for developing altered trajectories of cognitive, social, and linguistic competences compared to a term population. This is mainly due to medical and environmental factors, as they are exposed to an atypical auditory envir...

Postpartum Depression (PPD), a condition that affects up to 15% of mothers in high-income countries, reduces attention to the needs of the child and is among the first causes of infanticide. PPD is usually identified using self-report measures and th...

Infant attention is a cognitive function that underlines sensory–motor integration processes at the interface between the baby and the surrounding physical and socio-relational environment, mainly with the caregivers. The investigation of the r...

In this study, we evaluate mothers’ subjective experience of speaking and singing to their infants while they are in their incubators. We also discuss the relevance of the theoretical framework of Communicative Musicality for identifying the underlyi...

Background: In recent years, ultrasonic vocalizations (USV) in pups has become established as a good tool for evaluating behaviors related to communication deficits and emotional states observed in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Prenatal valproic ac...

Infant cry is an adaptive signal of distress that elicits timely and mostly appropriate caring behaviors. Caregivers are typically able to decode the meaning of the cry and respond appropriately, but maladaptive caregiver responses are common and, in...

Language delay and communication deficits are a core characteristic of the fragile X syndrome (FXS) phenotype. To date, the literature examining early language development in FXS is limited potentially due to barriers in language assessment in very y...

Herein, we present a newborn female with congenital vocal cord paralysis who required a tracheostomy in the neonatal period. She also presented with feeding difficulties. She was later diagnosed with a clinical picture of congenital myasthenia, assoc...

Background: The survival of extremely low birth weight infants (ELBW) has increased worldwide. Even in the absence of major disabilities, ELBW infants show difficulty in simple language functions. It is relevant to assess early abilities, which are t...

Perinatal brain injury occurs in 5.14/1000 live births in England. A significant proportion of these injuries result from hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) in term infants and intracranial haemorrhage (IVH) or periventricular leukomalacia (PVL)...

Infant cry is evolutionarily, psychologically, and clinically significant. Over the last half century, several researchers and clinicians have investigated acoustical properties of infant cry for medical purposes. However, this literature suffers a l...

Rats communicate using ultrasonic vocalizations (USV) throughout their life when confronted with emotionally stimulating situations, either negative or positive. The context of USV emission and the psychoacoustic characteristics of the vocalizations...

(1) Background: Preterm infants spend their first weeks of life in the hospital partially separated from their parents and subjected to frequent potentially painful clinical procedures. Previous research has found that early vocal contact reduces inf...

Branchiootorenal (BOR) syndrome is a rare autosomal dominant inherited disease with a prevalence of approximately 1 in 40,000 newborns. This disease is characterized by hearing loss, preauricular pits, branchial fistulas or cysts, and renal dysplasia...

Background: Supported infant-directed singing (IDS) for parents and their preterm infants has proven beneficial for parents and preterm infants’ health and relationship building. Studying parent–infant contingent interactions through beha...

Introduction: Correct breathing is a fundamental condition for adequate vocal production. Respiratory dynamics are able to modify the growth of facial mass and lingual posture, i.e., of the skull, the mandibular one. For this reason, infant mouth bre...

Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) and Electroencephalography (EEG) are commonly employed neuroimaging methods in developmental neuroscience. Since they offer complementary strengths and their simultaneous recording is relatively easy, com...

Prematurity is a major risk factor for perinatal stress and neonatal complications leading to systemic inflammation and abnormal mother–infant interactions. Oxytocin (OT) is a neuropeptide regulating the inflammatory response and promoting moth...

Cry analysis is an important tool to evaluate the development of preterm infants. However, the context of Neonatal Intensive Care Units is challenging, since a wide variety of sounds can occur (e.g., alarms and adult voices). In this paper, a method...

Earth’s mass generates a definitive Earth-vertical reference, shaping life’s evolution. Notably, these gravity models influence self-perception and the first-person viewpoint in the CNS, tied to bodily self-awareness and spatial orientati...

Introduction. Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is the most common cardiac anomaly in preterm newborns and may aggravate respiratory disease. Invasive closure options after failure of medical treatment include surgical ligation (SL) and transcatheter cl...

Background: Early language development, a key predictor of later academic achievement, arises out of social interactions and communication. High-quality social and emotional interactions in early child care and education (ECCE) programs may therefore...

The implementation of an intervention protocol aimed at increasing vocal complexity in three pre-linguistic children with cerebral palsy (two males, starting age 15 months, and one female, starting age 16 months) was evaluated utilising a repeated AB...

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder with a life-span disability. While diagnostic instruments have been developed and qualified based on the accuracy of the discrimination of children with ASD from typical development (TD) chil...

Respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) is one of the most serious neonatal conditions, frequently leading to respiratory failure and death in low-resource settings. Early detection is therefore critical, particularly where access to advanced diagnostic...