Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40764660›Full record

ArticleCommunications biology2025

Prenatal linguistic exposure shapes language brain responses at birth.

Andréanne René, Laura Caron-Desrochers, Julie Tremblay, Phetsamone Vannasing, Kassandra Roger, Solène Fourdain, Laurence Petitpas, Catherine Taillefer, Isabelle Boucoiran, Judit Gervain and 2 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Communications biology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Andréanne René *Laboratoire d'Imagerie Optique en Neurodéveloppement (LIONlab), Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center, Montréal, QC, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0001-2664-1733
Laura Caron-Desrochers *Laboratoire d'Imagerie Optique en Neurodéveloppement (LIONlab), Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center, Montréal, QC, Canada.
Julie TremblayLaboratoire d'Imagerie Optique en Neurodéveloppement (LIONlab), Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center, Montréal, QC, Canada.
Phetsamone VannasingLaboratoire d'Imagerie Optique en Neurodéveloppement (LIONlab), Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center, Montréal, QC, Canada.
Kassandra RogerLaboratoire d'Imagerie Optique en Neurodéveloppement (LIONlab), Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center, Montréal, QC, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9938-5806
Solène FourdainLaboratoire d'Imagerie Optique en Neurodéveloppement (LIONlab), Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center, Montréal, QC, Canada.
Laurence PetitpasLaboratoire d'Imagerie Optique en Neurodéveloppement (LIONlab), Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center, Montréal, QC, Canada.
Catherine TailleferDepartment of Obstetrics-Gynecology, Sainte-Justine University Hospital & University of Montreal, Montréal, QC, Canada.
Isabelle BoucoiranDepartment of Obstetrics-Gynecology, Sainte-Justine University Hospital & University of Montreal, Montréal, QC, Canada.
Judit GervainDepartment of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
Natacha PaquetteLaboratoire d'Imagerie Optique en Neurodéveloppement (LIONlab), Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center, Montréal, QC, Canada.
Anne GallagherLaboratoire d'Imagerie Optique en Neurodéveloppement (LIONlab), Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center, Montréal, QC, Canada. anne.gallagher@umontreal.ca.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9371-0495

Funding

Canada Research Chairs (Chaires de recherche du Canada) 950-232661Canadian Network for Research and Innovation in Machining Technology, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC Canadian Network for Research and Innovation in Machining Technology) RGPIN-2020-05029
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Newborns have an immature brain network responsible for speech processing that resembles the adult language network. However, it remains unclear how prenatal experience modulates this network. To test this, we exposed 39 fetuses to a story in their native language and in a foreign language during the last month of gestation, while another group of 21 fetuses received no experimental prenatal exposure. Within 3 days of life, neonates' brain responses were recorded using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) whilst they listened to the same story in their native language and in two foreign languages, one of which neonates had been prenatally exposed to. Results revealed that brain responses to the native language and the prenatally exposed foreign language were similar, whereas they differed in the left temporal and right prefrontal regions when listening to a prenatally unexposed foreign language. Findings indicate that foetuses' linguistic environment influences speech processing at birth.

Indexed as

BrainLanguagePrenatal Exposure Delayed EffectsSpeech PerceptionFemaleHumansInfant, NewbornLinguisticsMalePregnancySpectroscopy, Near-Infrared

Identifiers

PMID40764660
PMCPMC12325983

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.