Figure 1.

Group-averaged ERPs elicited by harmonic tones and broadband sounds in newborns (N = 12; left side) and adults (N = 11; right side) in an oddball paradigm. Upper row: the repetitive tone sequence (standard, thin continuous line) was occasionally broken by a higher-pitched tone (dotted line) or by various environmental (novel) sounds (thick continuous line). Bottom row: the repetitive tone sequence (standard, thin continuous line) was occasionally broken by white-noise segments (dotted line) or by various environmental (novel) sounds (thick continuous line). Observe the similar patterns of response to environmental sounds in newborns and adults by comparing the waveforms depicted by thick continuous lines on (A and B) with each other. The early negative peak is first followed by a central positive wave and then by a broad negativity. Stimulus onset is at the crossing of the two axes. Negative amplitudes are marked upwards. Adapted with permission from Kushnerenko et al. (2007).