It's never too early to enjoy a "conversation" with your baby! Neuro-imaging studies show us that long before a baby begins to speak, language learning is taking place in the brain. The neural pathways that are part of the ability to produce language and understand language are activated in an infant's brain when you speak to the child. Behavioral studies have demonstrated that infants learn language both by listening and by watching their caregivers speak. Learn more about speech in the "Language" section of the timeline.