Part of the process in learning to talk when you are a baby is babbling. It has been thought that this babble process was the baby learning how to control vocal and mouth muscles to make the vocal sounds necessary for speech. Whilst there is undoubtedly a component of this in the activity new research indicates that the processes involved are more complex than simple muscle control.

In a fascinating new study by Laura-Ann Petitto at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire it was found that babies babble with their hands when they are exposed to sign language, regardless of whether they are deaf or not. This points to an inate capacity to embrace the rythym and structure of language regardless of whether it is presented in audible or visual format.

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