All I had to work with were verbal communications based solely on memory, open to an almost infinite variety of contradictory interpretations.

FORBES: The 3 Secrets to Conflict Resolution

The finding could suggest that babies with better memory and motor skills may advance faster in their verbal abilities, but it isn't clear if that is based on genetic or environmental factors, Dr. Kuhl says.

WSJ: Wise Beyond Their Years: What Babies Really Know

This is done by examining the combined concentration of gray and white matter, or nerve cells and fiber tracts, in parts of the brain not normally used for verbal processing the hippocampus and cerebellum, normally associated with memory and motor learning.

WSJ: Wise Beyond Their Years: What Babies Really Know