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One mechanism that helps overcome this challenge is spatial release from masking (SRM), whereby spatial separation between a target signal and interfering sounds improves perception of the target. SRM has been observed in a wide range of species including songbirds, crocodilians, ferrets, and human adults, suggesting an evolutionarily conserved strategy for listening in noise. However, an important question remains: Is an infant\u2019s developing brain able to tap into the same mechanism to cope with the noisy world? To address this question, we recorded electroencephalography (EEG) from 7- and 11-month-old infants (N = 53) and adults (N = 20) as they listened to natural speech in quiet, collocated noise, and spatially segregated noise. Our results revealed that both infants and adults showed robust cortical tracking of speech across quiet and noisy listening conditions. For adults, spatial separation between the target speaker and distracting talkers led to enhanced cortical tracking of the target speech, consistent with SRM. Infants also showed SRM, with stronger tracking in segregated than collocated noise, although the effect was confined to a frontal-central region rather than broadly distributed across the scalp as in adults. These findings provide the first neurophysiological evidence that, although still immature, the developing brain can benefit from spatial cues in the first year of life. Together, these results add new insight into how the infant brain solves a fundamental perceptual problem - identifying a relevant voice in a noisy environment - using a mechanism that is evolutionarily grounded.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.64898\/2026.01.20.700695","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,21]],"date-time":"2026-01-21T12:35:19Z","timestamp":1768998919000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Infant cortical tracking of speech shows emerging spatial release from masking in the first year of life"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0398-8600","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Farhin","family":"Ahmed","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Centre, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA"},{"name":"Department of Otolaryngology \u2013 Head & Neck Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qianxun","family":"Zheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Centre, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA"},{"name":"Department of Otolaryngology \u2013 Head & Neck Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jenny","family":"Mcllwain","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Centre, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Talat","family":"Jabeen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Centre, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA"},{"name":"Department of Otolaryngology \u2013 Head & Neck Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bonnie K.","family":"Lau","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Centre, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA"},{"name":"Department of Otolaryngology \u2013 Head & Neck Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA"},{"name":"Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Seattle, WA, USA"},{"name":"Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"54368","reference":[{"key":"2026020608524113000_2026.01.20.700695v1.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/AUD.0b013e31816453dc"},{"key":"2026020608524113000_2026.01.20.700695v1.2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuroimage.2021.118698"},{"key":"2026020608524113000_2026.01.20.700695v1.3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0313274"},{"key":"2026020608524113000_2026.01.20.700695v1.4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fnins.2022.842447"},{"key":"2026020608524113000_2026.01.20.700695v1.5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/AUD.0000000000000896"},{"key":"2026020608524113000_2026.01.20.700695v1.6","unstructured":"Boersma, P. , & Weenink, D. 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