Infants’ cooing and babbling is connected with their ability to hear, according to a new study. The University of Missouri research indicates that an infant’s vocalization is largely motivated by the ability to hear their own babbling. Prior research has not addressed how the amounts of vocalizations can vary between infants who can hear and those who are deaf.

Infants with pronounced hearing loss who received cochlear implants to correct their hearing were soon able to reach the vocalization levels of infants who do not suffer from hearing loss. This ability to hear assisted in putting them on target for language development.

Mary Fagan, Mary Fagan, an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Science and Disorders in the MU School of Health Professions, said in a statement, “Hearing is a critical aspect of infants’ motivation to make early sounds.” She continued, “This study shows babies are interested in speech-like sounds and that they increase their babbling when they can hear.”

Fagan studied vocalization among 27 infants who could hear and 16 infants with profound hearing loss who were eligible for cochlear implants, small electronic devices placed into the bone behind the ear to allow the damaged inner ear to regain some function. Fagan noted that infants with profound hearing loss vocalized less than their hearing peers until they received the cochlear implants, at which point their vocalizations increased to the same levels as the infants who could hear.

According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, approximately 58,000 adults and 38,000 children have received cochlear implants since 2012.