Mismatch negativity indicates vowel discrimination in newborns.

The present study shows that an infrequent vowel ('deviant') presented among frequent vowels ('standard') elicits in sleeping human newborns a negativity in the auditory event-related potential (ERP) resembling the mismatch negativity (MMN) recorded in adults. Thus, the MMN appears to provide means to investigate brain mechanisms of vowel perception in infants.