Children are able to recognize speech from the 28th week of development. Moreover, they distinguish between different sounds, female and male voices. This conclusion was made by scientists who performed a brain scan of twelve premature infants. Researchers believe that these skills are acquired during fetal development. In other words, in a child who is in the womb, language abilities begin to form as a reaction to the voice of the parents.
It is known that the ears and the segment of the brain responsible for hearing are formed at the 23rd week of development. But scientists until recently did not know exactly when the ability to process sound information appears. According to Dr. Fabrice Vallois, environmental factors are of great importance here, but the language processing system itself is innate.
When the cortical network necessary for the perception of sounds begins to develop, the human brain can already distinguish some of the nuances of speech. Naturally, this fact does not deny that practice is necessary for the formation of language skills.
It was previously believed that the brain of a baby begins to develop only after birth, since a brain scan was carried out immediately after birth. Now this theory is in doubt and scientists are defending the theory of fetal development.
