Overview

• A Stanford-led study published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience reports the first randomized controlled trial testing increased maternal speech exposure for hospitalized premature infants.
• Forty-six very preterm babies were randomized, with the treatment group hearing their own mother's Paddington Bear recording in 10-minute blocks totaling about 160 minutes each night for several weeks.
• Pre-discharge MRI showed a more mature left arcuate fasciculus in the treatment group than in controls, with smaller effects on the right, indicating strengthened language-related white-matter organization.
• Parents were effectively blinded by night-time playback, and participants were medically stable infants without major complications or congenital anomalies, highlighting limits on generalizability.
• Researchers plan larger and broader trials, long-term language follow-up, and tailored neonatal soundscapes, while outside experts caution against overinterpreting findings from a small sample.