Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2022 May 3;119(18):e2123239119. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2123239119. Epub 2022 Apr 28.
ABSTRACT
SignificanceInfants learn mappings between heard names and seen things before their first birthday and before they produce spoken language. Two challenges to explaining this early learning are the immaturity of infant memory systems and the infrequency of any individual object name in the heard language input. We quantified the frequency of visual referents, heard names, and the cooccurrences of referents and names in infant everyday experiences. We discovered statistical patterns at two timescales that align with a cortical mechanism of associative memory formation that supports the rapid formation of durable associative memories from very few experienced cooccurrences.
PMID:35482916 | DOI:10.1073/pnas.2123239119
