A RESEARCH laboratory at the University of Plymouth has been helped by its 2,000th baby.

Plymouth BabyLab has been aided in its studies by little Brooke Welsford, the 2,000th baby to be volunteered to help with research into how children pick up words and begin to communicate.

Since the age of five months, she has been helping researchers at the lab to study how children's language skills develop.

A spokesman said the BabyLab is the only way to gather data on how language grows in infants. Parents in Plymouth have taken part in a variety of studies since it was established in 2006.

Brooke's mother, Catherine Voisey, said: "I signed up Brooke for the BabyLab because I was interested in how she would develop language.

"She has really enjoyed her visits and we are looking forward to taking part in some other studies in the future."

Brooke has participated in a variety of projects over the past few months, including one evaluating how babies learn so many new words quickly; how they hear dialects; and how babies perceive different accents in a home within which two dialects are spoken.

A BabyLab spokesman said that by testing children aged five months to six years, "valuable data can be gathered which will show how the brain matures."

Studies at the lab have examined whether children remember better in a group or on their own; how memories are formed; how brain activity is distributed in 11-month-olds; and how vocabulary develops.

It has also been investigating whether bilingual and monolingual children acquire language differently. The aim is to provide the NHS with tools that could be used nationally to determine whether bilingual children are developing normally or need extra help from a speech therapist.

The spokesman said it is an ongoing study – and more children are needed aged between 14 months and 30 months, whether monolingual, bilingual or trilingual, so that "accurate comparisons can be made".

BabyLab researcher Dr Caroline Floccia said: "We are one of 50 Babylabs in the world, all interested in various aspects of children's development.

"Thanks to this kind of research, scientists have accumulated important knowledge about children, so that now we have a much better understanding of brain diseases, autism, ADHD and dyslexia.

"Without parents being willing to contribute, we would simply not know all this."

As a thank you, each infant receives a Young Scientist certificate. Anyone interested in registering should contact Dr Floccia at the info@plymouthbabylab.org email address.