Music in babies favors the development of their language
Language is one of the skills most important that manages the human being and that allows us to communicate with each other. When a person grows this capacity seems simple, however there is a complex learning process behind it. Babies must begin to recognize different auditory patterns, decipher them and use them to make a meaningful response.
This learning can be favored by different stimulation formulas. Now, a study by the University of Seattle, published in The Proceedings of the National Academy Sciences, suggests that music can play an important role in this process. The rhythms of these songs make it possible to foresee the patterns in the acquisition of this ability and favor a brain activity favorable to it.
The rhythm of the melody
In this study, a total of Of babies. 20 of them attended sessions of 12 to 15 minutes where they played while in the background they listened to music, specifically a waltz, something "relatively difficult for children to learn to the rhythm". The rest participated in days in which no melody accompanied them during the realization of these activities.
After several weeks participating in these activities, the babies were evaluated by magnetic resonance. These tests measured both response time to external stimuli and brain activity. In particular, the auditory cortex and the prefrontal cortex were analyzed, areas in charge of handling attention and detection of patterns such as those used for language.
Those babies who had been exposed to music, had a higher brain activity that favored the detection of language patterns for later use. Those responsible for the study emphasize that in this way the melody can create new brain connections and encourage the development of new therapies in children with speech disorders.
Language stimulation
Along with music, at home you can bet on other exercises to stimulate language. Here are some of them:
- Use a clear and simple language so that the child has it easy to imitate him.
- Show interest in what the child says by repeating his words and adding new additional information.
- Return to the child the badly articulated word so that he pronounces it well several times.
- Show much interest to the child for what he has to say and ask him to repeat what he can not fully understand.
- Help the child expand his vocabulary by introducing new words and reading books that have a simple sentence on each page.
- Name objects and describe the illustrations in the book.
- Put different objects in a bucket and ask the child to take them out one by one, saying what they are called.
Damián Montero
