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Early Vocal Contact and Preterm Infant Brain Development pp 183–201Cite as

Recorded Maternal Voice, Recorded Music, or Live Intervention: A Bioecological Perspective

Abstract

Introduction: The human infant develops in his or her expected bioecological niche based on experience-dependent regulation of physiology, motor control, and arousal, typically provided by close contact with the mother. Synchrony, intensity, tempo, and rhythm of a mother’s physical and vocal communication are embedded in what the infant experiences and lay the foundation for attachment relationships and optimal development. Infants who have significant medical issues or are early born experience a different developmental niche than would a typically developing infant. This chapter addresses the complexities of exposure of the newborn in intensive care to different models of intimate caregiving, including the mother’s recorded or live voice and recorded or live music, in the context of current knowledge of necessary species-specific, co-regulatory synchronous interactions. Additionally, the chapter explores opportunities and barriers to the provision of optimal mother-infant communication in intensive care.

Aims: The aims of this chapter are to describe foundational developmental science that contributes to our understanding of the components of optimal bioecological niches for developing infants in the NICU and to provide a rationale for promoting optimal intersensory, redundant, synchronous, and rhythmic experiences for the developing infant through the mother’s presence. Additionally, an aim of the chapter is to examine current intervention strategies that may or may not provide optimal bioecological niches for developing infants under intensive care.

Conclusions: Developmental science contributes to our emerging understanding of the optimal bioecological niche for the developing infant. Medically fragile and/or early born infants are thought to have over or underexposure to sensory experiences prompting the addition of live and/or recorded inputs such as the mother’s voice or music and other multisensory stimulation approaches. Research on such interventions has begun to explore their benefits and/or challenges, but findings are not consistently conclusive. From a developmental science and clinical research perspective, the likely most optimal niche for the developing infant is the mother’s body and voice. NICU practices that encourage mothers to be with and communicate with their baby need to be promoted.

Keywords

  • Bioecology
  • Recorded mother’s voice
  • Mother’s voice
  • Preterm infant
  • Socioemotional development
  • NICU environments

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Colorado, School of Medicine, Center for Family & Infant Interaction, Aurora, CO, USA

    Joy V. Browne PhD

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Correspondence to Joy V. Browne PhD .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Independent Researcher, Aosta, Italy

    Manuela Filippa

  2. Médecine et Réanimation du Nouveau-né Hôpital de Hautepierre, CHU, Strasbourg, France

    Pierre Kuhn

  3. Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

    Björn Westrup

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Browne, J.V. (2017). Recorded Maternal Voice, Recorded Music, or Live Intervention: A Bioecological Perspective. In: Filippa, M., Kuhn, P., Westrup, B. (eds) Early Vocal Contact and Preterm Infant Brain Development . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65077-7_11

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