Deficits in Processing of Lexical Tones in Mandarin-Speaking Children With Developmental Language Disorder: Electrophysiological Evidence

Author(s):  
Ying-Ying Cheng ◽  
Hsin-Chi Wu ◽  
Hsin-Yi Shih ◽  
Pei-Wen Yeh ◽  
Huei-Ling Yen ◽  
...  

Purpose This study explored the neural marker indexing deficits in discriminating lexical tone changes in Mandarin-speaking children with developmental language disorders (DLDs) using mismatch negativity, an event-related potential component for auditory change detection. Mandarin has four lexical tones characterized by a high-level tone (T1), high-rising tone (T2), low-dipping tone (T3), and high-falling tone (T4), in which the T2/T3 contrast is acoustically less discriminable in developmental groups. Therefore, this study further examined how deficits in children with DLD would vary with tonal contrasts' acoustic saliency. Method Event-related potentials were measured using the multideviant oddball paradigm described by Lee et al. (2012), who used Mandarin syllables [i] in T3 as the standard sound (80%), T1 as the large deviant (10%), and T2 as the small deviant (10%). Twelve children with DLD aged between 4 and 6 years participated in this study, and 12 age-matched children with typical development were selected from the data set of Lee et al. (2012) as the controls. Results The T1/T3 change elicited adultlike mismatch negativity in both the DLD and control groups, while no group difference was revealed. The T2/T3 change elicited a robust positive mismatch response (P-MMR) in children with DLD, while the P-MMR was less significant in the control group. The group comparisons revealed a larger P-MMR in children with DLD than in the control group. Furthermore, children with lower scores in language assessments tend to reveal larger P-MMRs. Conclusions This study demonstrated that deficits in children with DLD in discriminating subtle lexical tone changes reflect greater positivity of P-MMR to T2/T3 change. This implies that MMR to T2/T3 may serve as a neural marker for evaluating language delay in preschoolers.

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 608-617
Author(s):  
Tahamina Begum ◽  
Faruque Reza

Objectives: We investigated the auditory cognitive and behavioral functions during 2nd and 3rd trimesters of pregnancy using event-related potentials (ERPs) and different neuropsychology tests, respectively. Methods: The ERPs were studied by using a 128-sensor net, and PAS/COWA, WCST, ZCT, RAVLTIM/RAVLTDR/RAVLTTS, and BDI were tested for neuropsychology assessment. Total 39 subjects were recruited for control group (G1, n=15, non-pregnant), 2nd trimester group (G2, n=12, 13-26 weeks gestation), and 3rd trimester group (G3, n=12, 26- 40 weeks gestation). Auditory oddball paradigm was used during ERP study. Subjects silently counted only the target stimuli with attention by ignoring standard stimuli. Value of the mean differences of the target and standard stimuli were measured across groups in 10-20 electrode systems. Results: The P50, N100, and P300 ERP components were analyzed. The G3 (at F7 and C3) and G2 (at T4) groups evoked the highest significant amplitudes in P50, and G3 (at Cz and Pz) and G1 (at F8 and T4) evoked the highest significant amplitudes of N100 with significantly prolonged latencies at Cz and O1 (in G1) and F8 (in G2). However, significantly higher amplitudes of P300 were found at Fz (in G3) and FP1 (G2) (G2>G3). On the other hand, neuropsychology tests revealed that G2 possessed the highest significant score in WCST and G1 in ZCT. The G3 performed poorly in all tests. Conclusion: We concluded that pregnant groups performed better in auditory (attention/memory) and executive function assessment. Moreover, the 2nd trimester group has better auditory cognitive function compared to the 3rd trimester group due to the effect of hormonal changes during pregnancy, which might be a positive influence during the pregnancy period. Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol.20(3) 2021 p.608-617


Author(s):  
Justine Niemczyk ◽  
Monika Equit ◽  
Katja Rieck ◽  
Mathias Rubly ◽  
Catharina Wagner ◽  
...  

Abstract. Objective: Daytime urinary incontinence (DUI) is common in childhood. The aim of the study was to neurophysiologically analyse the central emotion processing in children with DUI. Method: In 20 children with DUI (mean age 8.1 years, 55 % male) and 20 controls (mean age 9.1 years, 75 % male) visual event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded after presenting emotionally valent (80 neutral, 40 positive, and 40 negative) pictures from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) as an oddball-paradigm. All children received a full organic and psychiatric assessment. Results: Children with DUI did not differ significantly from controls regarding responses to emotional pictures in the frontal, central, and parietal regions and in the time intervals 250–450 ms, 450–650 ms, and 650–850 ms after stimulus onset. The patient group had more psychological symptoms and psychiatric comorbidities than the control group. Conclusions: EEG responses to emotional stimuli are not altered in children with DUI. Central emotion processing does not play a major role in DUI. Further research, including a larger sample size, a more homogeneous patient group (regarding subtype of DUI) or brain imaging techniques, could reveal more about the central processing in DUI.


2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-280
Author(s):  
Jianfeng Wang ◽  
Yan Wu ◽  
Lushi Jing

Implicit motives play an important role in the regulation of many basic cognitive processes, particularly in the stage of attention. We conducted a study with a sample of 58 college students to examine selective attention to emotional stimuli as a function of individual differences in the implicit need for affiliation (nAff). In an affective oddball paradigm, event-related potentials were recorded while participants viewed positive, neutral, and negative images of people. Results showed that individuals high in nAff elicited larger late positive potential amplitudes to negative images than those low in nAff did. These findings replicate and extend the results of a previous study focused on these relationships and provide additional information on the neural correlates of affiliation-related emotional information processing.


2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 238-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek J. Fisher ◽  
Debra J. Campbell ◽  
Shelagh C. Abriel ◽  
Emma M. L. Ells ◽  
Erica D. Rudolph ◽  
...  

The mismatch negativity (MMN) is an EEG-derived event-related potential (ERP) elicited by any violation of a predicted auditory “rule,” regardless of whether one is attending to the stimuli and is thought to reflect updating of the stimulus context. Redirection of attention toward a rare, distracting stimulus event, however, can be measured by the subsequent P3a component of the P300. Chronic schizophrenia patients exhibit robust MMN deficits, as well as reductions in P3a amplitude. While, the substantial literature on the MMN in first-episode and early phase schizophrenia in this population reports reduced amplitudes, there also exist several contradictory studies. Conversely, P3a reduction in this population is relatively consistent, although the literature investigating this is small. The primary goal of this study was to contribute to our understanding of whether auditory change detection mechanisms are altered in early phase schizophrenia and, if so, under what conditions. Event-related potentials elicited by duration, frequency, gap, intensity, and location deviants (as elicited by the “optimal” multi-feature paradigm) were recorded in 14 early phase schizophrenia (EP) patients and 17 healthy controls (HCs). Electrical activity was recorded from 15 scalp electrodes. MMN/P3a amplitudes and latencies for each deviant were compared between groups and were correlated with clinical measures in EPs. There were no significant group differences for MMN amplitudes or latencies, though EPs did exhibit reduced P3a amplitudes to gap and duration deviants. Furthermore, PANSS (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale) positive symptom scores were correlated with intensity MMN latencies and duration P3a amplitudes in EPs. These findings suggest that MMNs may not be as robustly reduced in early phase schizophrenia (relative to chronic illness), but that alterations may be more likely in patients with increased positive symptomatology. Furthermore, these findings offer further support to previous work suggesting that the understudied P3a may have good complementary utility as a marker of early cortical dysfunction in psychosis.


2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (6) ◽  
pp. 388-397
Author(s):  
François Prévost ◽  
Alexandre Lehmann

Cochlear implants restore hearing in deaf individuals, but speech perception remains challenging. Poor discrimination of spectral components is thought to account for limitations of speech recognition in cochlear implant users. We investigated how combined variations of spectral components along two orthogonal dimensions can maximize neural discrimination between two vowels, as measured by mismatch negativity. Adult cochlear implant users and matched normal-hearing listeners underwent electroencephalographic event-related potentials recordings in an optimum-1 oddball paradigm. A standard /a/ vowel was delivered in an acoustic free field along with stimuli having a deviant fundamental frequency (+3 and +6 semitones), a deviant first formant making it a /i/ vowel or combined deviant fundamental frequency and first formant (+3 and +6 semitones /i/ vowels). Speech recognition was assessed with a word repetition task. An analysis of variance between both amplitude and latency of mismatch negativity elicited by each deviant vowel was performed. The strength of correlations between these parameters of mismatch negativity and speech recognition as well as participants’ age was assessed. Amplitude of mismatch negativity was weaker in cochlear implant users but was maximized by variations of vowels’ first formant. Latency of mismatch negativity was later in cochlear implant users and was particularly extended by variations of the fundamental frequency. Speech recognition correlated with parameters of mismatch negativity elicited by the specific variation of the first formant. This nonlinear effect of acoustic parameters on neural discrimination of vowels has implications for implant processor programming and aural rehabilitation.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Xiaojing Li ◽  
Wei Deng ◽  
Rui Xue ◽  
Qiang Wang ◽  
Hongyan Ren ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Deficits in event-related potential (ERP) including duration mismatch negativity (MMN) and P3a have been demonstrated widely in chronic schizophrenia (SZ) but inconsistent findings were reported in first-episode patients. Psychotropic medications and diagnosis might contribute to different findings on MMN/P3a ERP in first-episode patients. The present study examined MMN and P3a in first episode drug naïve SZ and bipolar disorder (BPD) patients and explored the relationships among ERPs, neurocognition and global functioning. Methods Twenty SZ, 24 BPD and 49 age and sex-matched healthy controls were enrolled in this study. Data of clinical symptoms [Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS), Young Manic Rating Scale (YMRS), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD)], neurocognition [Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), Cattell's Culture Fair Intelligence Test (CCFT), Delay Matching to Sample (DMS), Rapid Visual Information Processing (RVP)], and functioning [Functioning Assessment Short Test (FAST)] were collected. P3a and MMN were elicited using a passive auditory oddball paradigm. Results Significant MMN and P3a deficits and impaired neurocognition were found in both SZ and BPD patients. In SZ, MMN was significantly correlated with FAST (r = 0.48) and CCFT (r = −0.31). In BPD, MMN was significantly correlated with DMS (r = −0.54). For P3a, RVP and FAST scores were significant predictors in SZ, whereas RVP, WAIS and FAST were significant predictors in BPD. Conclusions The present study found deficits in MMN, P3a, neurocognition in drug naïve SZ and BPD patients. These deficits appeared to link with levels of higher-order cognition and functioning.


2001 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elvira Brattico ◽  
Risto Näääätäänen ◽  
Mari Tervaniemi

Behavioral evidence indicates that musical context facilitates pitch discrimination. In the present study, we sought to determine whether pitch context and its familiarity might affect brain responses to pitch change even at the preattentive level. Ten musicians and 10 nonmusicians, while concentrating on reading a book, were presented with sound stimuli that had an infrequent (p = 15%) pitch shift of 144 Hz. In the familiar condition, the infrequent third-position deviant changed the mode (major vs. minor) of the five-tone pattern. In the unfamiliar condition, patterns were formed from five arithmetically determined tone frequencies, the deviant not causing any change of mode. The no-context condition included only third-position tones. All deviants elicited the change-specific mismatch negativity component of the event-related potentials in both groups of subjects. In both musicians and nonmusicians, pitch change in the familiar condition evoked larger mismatch negativity amplitude than the change in the unfamiliar condition and, correspondingly, larger mismatch negativity in the unfamiliar condition than in the no-context condition. This suggests that preattentive pitch-change processing is generally enhanced in a familiar context. Moreover, the latency of the mismatch negativity was shorter for musicians than for nonmusicians in both the familiar and unfamiliar conditions, whereas no difference between groups was observed in the no-context condition. This finding indicates that, in response to sequential structured sound events, the auditory system reacts faster in musicians than in nonmusicians.


2004 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 331-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Titia L. van Zuijen ◽  
Elyse Sussman ◽  
István Winkler ◽  
Risto Näätänen ◽  
Mari Tervaniemi

It is believed that auditory processes governing grouping and segmentation of sounds are automatic and represent universal aspects of music perception (e.g., they are independent of the listener's musical skill). The present study challenges this view by showing that musicians and nonmusicians differ in their ability to preattentively group consecutive sounds. We measured event-related potentials (ERPs) from professional musicians and nonmusicians who were presented with isochronous tone sequences that they ignored. Four consecutive tones in a sequence could be grouped according to either pitch similarity or good continuation of pitch. Occasionally, the tone-group length was violated by a deviant tone. The mismatch negativity (MMN) was elicited to the deviants in both subject groups when the sounds could be grouped based on pitch similarity. In contrast, MMN was only elicited in musicians when the sounds could be grouped according to good continuation of pitch. These results suggest that some forms of auditory grouping depend on musical skill and that not all aspects of auditory grouping are universal.


Open Medicine ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hakan Tekeli ◽  
Hasan Koçoğlu ◽  
Cabir Alan ◽  
Mustafa Emir Tavşanlı ◽  
Halit Yaşar ◽  
...  

AbstractBackground: Hypospadias is a common urogenital system disorder. The frenulum, which is the most sensitive area of the glans penis, is not present in patients with hypospadias. This may lead to a failure in sexual and ejaculatory function, and cause emotional problems affecting cognitive processes.Aim: We aimed to study auditory Event Related Potentials (ERP) in patients with hypospadias to understand the status of cognitive function.Materials and Methods: Seventeen patients with hypospadias who presented to the Urology Outpatient Clinic of Çanakkale Military Hospital, and 11 healthy individuals of similar age were chosen. The auditory oddball paradigm with ERP from the Cz and Fz head regions were studied. The latency and amplitude of the P300 wave were measured.Results: Both, the study and control groups consisted of young males. Although the study group had a longer P300 latency and lower P300 amplitude when compared to control group, the results were not statistically significant (p: 0.059 and 0.346 respectively).Conclusion: Although the results are not statistically significant, our findings indicate that there may be cognitive changes in patients with hypospadias. Further studies of larger sample size and older patient cohorts are needed.


F1000Research ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 182
Author(s):  
Kestutis Gurevicius ◽  
Arto Lipponen ◽  
Rimante Minkeviciene ◽  
Heikki Tanila

An auditory oddball paradigm in humans generates a long-duration cortical negative potential, often referred to as mismatch negativity. Similar negativity has been documented in monkeys and cats, but it is controversial whether mismatch negativity also exists in awake rodents. To this end, we recorded cortical and hippocampal evoked responses in rats during alert immobility under a typical passive oddball paradigm that yields mismatch negativity in humans. The standard stimulus was a 9 kHz tone and the deviant either 7 or 11 kHz tone in the first condition. We found no evidence of a sustained potential shift when comparing evoked responses to standard and deviant stimuli. Instead, we found repetition-induced attenuation of the P60 component of the combined evoked response in the cortex, but not in the hippocampus. The attenuation extended over three days of recording and disappeared after 20 intervening days of rest. Reversal of the standard and deviant tones resulted is a robust enhancement of the N40 component not only in the cortex but also in the hippocampus. Responses to standard and deviant stimuli were affected similarly. Finally, we tested the effect of scopolamine in this paradigm. Scopolamine attenuated cortical N40 and P60 as well as hippocampal P60 components, but had no specific effect on the deviant response. We conclude that in an oddball paradigm the rat demonstrates repetition-induced attenuation of mid-latency responses, which resembles attenuation of the N1-component of human auditory evoked potential, but no mismatch negativity.


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