Effect of maturation on suprasegmental speech processing in full- and preterm infants: A mismatch negativity study

Our results showed no differences in MMN responses in the phoneme deviant condition between the groups, meaning a relatively intact maturation of phoneme processing of preterm infants as compared to their contemporaries. However, the mismatch responses measured in the stress condition revealed significant between-group differences. These results strengthen the view that the total length of intrauterine experience influences the time of emergence of prosodic processing.