WHAT SLEEPING BABIES HEAR

The voices babies hear while they’re asleep can permanently shape their developing brains. That’s the conclusion of researchers at the University of Oregon who scanned the brains of sleeping 6- to 12-month-old babies while playing them nonsense sentences spoken in angry, happy, or neutral tones. (click below to read more)

They found that each of the tones activated different regions in the infants’ brains, suggesting that they didn’t need to be awake to take in aural information. Researchers also discovered that the brains of babies who came from high-conflict homes, where their parents often shouted at each other, reacted especially strongly to the angry voice. “That reactivity is in brain regions that we think are important later on in terms of your ability to regulate your emotions and function well,” study author Alice Graham tells NPR.org. It’s unclear, though, what that extra sensitivity means for the babies’ future. It could change the brain in ways that make them more prone to behavioral problems. But it could also help the brain develop resistance to the psychological damage often caused by exposure to parental conflict.