Why baby-talk really is best for your child's brain: More 'motherese' an infant hears the better its language development 

  • Talking in a sing-song voice has long been known to help babies learn
  • But scientists were not sure what effect this has on the child’s brain 
  • Now brain scans show mum and baby brain waves start to closely match
  • Speaking in a soothing sing-song voice – dubbed ‘motherese’ – helps the baby to enter a state where it is more receptive to learning  

By Daily Mail Reporter

Published: | Updated:

Baby-talk and nursery rhymes help babies to learn by getting their brainwaves in tune with their mothers, a study has found.

While talking in a soothing, sing-song voice has long been known to help babies learn, scientists were not sure what effect this has on the child’s brain.

Now brain scans of mother and baby show that their brain waves start to closely match each other as mum sings a nursery rhyme.

Babies prefer the female voice but like it even more when it takes on the qualities of 'motherese', the high-energy singsong tone we all naturally adopt when talking to babies (stock image)

Baby-talk and nursery rhymes help babies to learn by getting their brainwaves in tune with their mothers (stock photo) 

Dr Victoria Leong, a researcher at Cambridge University said speaking in a soothing sing-song voice – dubbed ‘motherese’ – helps the baby to enter a state where it is more receptive to learning.

Dr Leong is able to say that the brain waves are matching by ‘hyperscanning’ - carrying out brain scans of mother and baby at the same time.

The technique looks at how closely the wave patterns in the mother and infants brain resemble each other.

When they closely match, she calls this phenomenon ‘brain to brain coupling’.

And by looking at how close the peaks and troughs match each other, she can judge the effect of variables such as eye contact or the style of speech.

Brainwaves ‘synchronise’ when their peaks and troughs closely match each other.

She told the BBC: ‘Although it sounds odd to us, babies really love listening to motherese even more than adult speech.

‘It holds their attention better and the speech sounds clearer to them.

‘So we know the more motherese the baby hears, the better the language development,’ she said.

Dr Leong said it is probably also the case if infants hear baby talk fathers, grandparents or other carers.

But so far her experiments have focused on the interaction between mothers and their babies.

In another test, researchers found holding a baby’s attention with prolonged eye contact also helps the baby to learn better in tests (stock photo) 

In another test, researchers found holding a baby’s attention with prolonged eye contact also helps the baby to learn better in tests (stock photo) 

‘The baby brain is set to respond to motherese, which is why it is such an effective vehicle for teaching babies about new information,’ she said.

In another of her team’s findings, holding a baby’s attention with prolonged eye contact also helps the baby to learn better in tests.

Mums held the attention of their babies far better when looking directly at them, compared to those who glanced away, even occasionally.

Dr Leong’s research is already well supported by studies that show talking to a baby and making eye contact helps a baby learn.

The novel element of her team’s research is that they are attempting to find out what goes on in a baby’s head when it learns.

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