Estimating the extent to which newborn humans process input from their environment, especially regarding the depth of processing, is a challenging question. To approach this problem, we measured brain responses in 20 newborns with magnetoencephalography (MEG) in a “local-global” auditory oddball paradigm in which two-levels of hierarchical regularities are presented. Results suggest that infants in the first weeks of life are able to learn hierarchical rules, yet a certain level of vigilance seems to be necessary. Newborns detected violations of the first-order regularity and displayed a mismatch response between 200−400 ms. Violations of the second-order regularity only evoked a late response in newborns in an active state, which was expressed by a high heart rate variability. These findings are in line with those obtained in human adults and older infants suggesting a continuity in the functional architecture from term-birth on, despite the immaturity of the human brain at this age.

评估新生儿从环境中处理输入的程度，尤其是在处理深度方面，是一个具有挑战性的问题。为了解决这个问题，我们在“局部-全局”听觉奇异球范式中用磁脑电图（MEG）测量了20名新生儿的大脑反应，其中呈现了两个级别的层次规律性。结果表明，婴儿在出生的头几周就能够学习等级规则，但一定程度的警惕性似乎是必要的。新生儿检测到违反一阶规律性，并在200-400 ms之间显示失配响应。违反二级规律仅在活跃状态的新生儿中引起晚期反应，这由高心率变异性表示。