In Brief

Abstract

Scientists have recently demonstrated that newborn babies can be taught to distinguish between different speech sounds while they sleep, possibly heralding a new trend in language training techniques for infants. While sleeping babies were exposed to a series of repeating vowel sounds that varied slightly, their brain electrical activity was recorded. The changes in sound produced a response called ‘mismatch activity’, which is related to brain excitability and indicates that newborn babies learnt as a result of exposure to these sounds. Amazingly, babies were able to discriminate between the vowel sounds after only one night of training. These findings are important because they establish the extraordinary learning potential of the brain while resting, although as a language teaching technique for children this could be excessive. One has only to realize that, as adults, our lives are consumed by worry, disappointment and stress as we strive for maximum achievement and efficiency beyond our limits. Is it really necessary to perturb the renovating hours of sleep that allow us to actively explore the new day ahead in a joyful way? (Nature 415, 599–600) SS