Mothers' voices promote language development in premature infants' brains

Recordings of mothers reading to premature babies improved language pathway development in their brains. A Stanford Medicine-led study found that hospitalized preemies who regularly heard their mothers' voices showed more mature white matter in a key language area compared to a control group. This randomized controlled trial is the first to show a causal link between speech exposure and early brain development, offering a new approach to neonatal care.