Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, United States; Department of Psychology , Princeton University, Princeton, United States
Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, United States; Department of Psychology , Princeton University, Princeton, United States
Lauren M Kelly
Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, United States; Department of Psychology , Princeton University, Princeton, United States
Sabina I Hlavaty
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, United States
Junzhou Huang
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, United States
Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, United States; Department of Psychology , Princeton University, Princeton, United States
Human and non-human primates produce rhythmical sounds as soon as they are born. These early vocalizations are important for soliciting the attention of caregivers. How they develop remains a mystery. The orofacial movements necessary for producing these vocalizations have distinct spatiotemporal signatures. Therefore, their development could potentially be tracked over the course of prenatal life. We densely and longitudinally sampled fetal head and orofacial movements in marmoset monkeys using ultrasound imaging. We show that orofacial movements necessary for producing rhythmical vocalizations differentiate from a larger movement pattern that includes the entire head. We also show that signature features of marmoset infant contact calls emerge prenatally as a distinct pattern of orofacial movements. Our results establish that aspects of the sensorimotor development necessary for vocalizing occur prenatally, even before the production of sound.
