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Preterm and full term infant vocalization and the origin of language.

ABSTRACT: How did vocal language originate? Before trying to determine how referential vocabulary or syntax may have arisen, it is critical to explain how ancient hominins began to produce vocalization flexibly, without binding to emotions or functions. A crucial factor in the vocal communicative split of hominins from the ape background may thus have been copious, functionally flexible vocalization, starting in infancy and continuing throughout life, long before there were more advanced linguistic features such as referential vocabulary. 2-3 month-old modern human infants produce "protophones", including at least three types of functionally flexible non-cry precursors to speech rarely reported in other ape infants. But how early in life do protophones actually appear? We report that the most common protophone types emerge abundantly as early as vocalization can be observed in infancy, in preterm infants still in neonatal intensive care. Contrary to the expectation that cries are the predominant vocalizations of infancy, our all-day recordings showed that protophones occurred far more frequently than cries in both preterm and full-term infants. Protophones were not limited to interactive circumstances, but also occurred at high rates when infants were alone, indicating an endogenous inclination to vocalize exploratorily, perhaps the most fundamental capacity underlying vocal language.

SUBMITTER: Oller DK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6791864 | biostudies-other | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Preterm and full term infant vocalization and the origin of language.

Oller D Kimbrough DK Caskey Melinda M Yoo Hyunjoo H Bene Edina R ER Jhang Yuna Y Lee Chia-Cheng CC Bowman Dale D DD Long Helen L HL Buder Eugene H EH Vohr Betty B

Scientific reports 20191014 1

How did vocal language originate? Before trying to determine how referential vocabulary or syntax may have arisen, it is critical to explain how ancient hominins began to produce vocalization flexibly, without binding to emotions or functions. A crucial factor in the vocal communicative split of hominins from the ape background may thus have been copious, functionally flexible vocalization, starting in infancy and continuing throughout life, long before there were more advanced linguistic featur ...[more]

PMID: 31611607

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Project description:ImportanceAntibiotic treatment saves lives in newborns with early-onset sepsis (EOS), but unwarranted antibiotic use is associated with resistant bacteria and adverse outcomes later in life. Surveillance is needed to optimize treatment strategies.ObjectiveTo describe antibiotic use in association with the incidence and mortality from EOS among late-preterm and full-term newborns.Design, setting, and participantsThe Sweden Neonatal Antibiotic Use study was a nationwide observational study that included all late-preterm and full-term neonates born from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2020, in neonatal units of all levels. All hospital live births from 34 weeks' gestation during the study period were included in the study. Data were collected from the Swedish Neonatal Quality Register and the Swedish Medical Birth Register. Data were analyzed from August 2022 to May 2023.ExposureAdmission for neonatal intensive care during the first week of life.Main outcomes and measuresThe main outcomes were the usage of intravenous antibiotics during the first week of life, the duration of antibiotic therapy, the rate of culture-proven EOS, and mortality associated with EOS.ResultsA total of 1 025 515 newborns were included in the study; 19 286 neonates (1.88%; 7686 girls [39.9%]; median [IQR] gestational age, 40 [38-41] weeks; median [IQR] birth weight, 3610 [3140-4030] g) received antibiotics during the first week of life, of whom 647 (3.4%) had EOS. The median (IQR) duration of antibiotic treatment in newborns without EOS was 5 (3-7) days, and there were 113 antibiotic-days per 1000 live births. During the study period there was no significant change in the exposure to neonatal antibiotics or antibiotic-days per 1000 live births. The incidence of EOS was 0.63 per 1000 live births, with a significant decrease from 0.74 in 2012 to 0.34 in 2020. Mortality associated with EOS was 1.39% (9 of 647 newborns) and did not change significantly over time. For each newborn with EOS, antibiotic treatment was initiated in 29 newborns and 173 antibiotic-days were dispensed.Conclusions and relevanceThis large nationwide study found that a relatively low exposure to antibiotics is not associated with an increased risk of EOS or associated mortality. Still, future efforts to reduce unwarranted neonatal antibiotic use are needed.

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Preterm and full term infant vocalization and the origin of language.

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Preterm and full term infant vocalization and the origin of language.

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