scholarly journals Association of epileptiform brain activity and specific language impairment (SLI) in preschool children

2021 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Esmael ◽  
Sara Elsherbeny ◽  
Mohammed Abbas
Keyword(s):  
Preschool Children ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Significant Relationship ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Intelligence Quotient ◽  
Epileptiform Activity ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Cognitive Age ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Epileptiform activities can cause transient or permanent deficits that affect the children during development and may be accompanied by neurodevelopmental disorders like specific language impairment. Objectives The objective of this study was to find if there is a possible association and the impact of epilepsy and epileptiform activity in children with specific language impairment. Patients and methods The study was conducted on 80 children suffering from specific language impairment and 80 age and sex match healthy control children. Computed tomography brain was performed and electroencephalography was recorded for children. Intelligence quotient level, cognitive age, social, and phoniatric assessment were done for all patients. Results Eighty children with specific language impairment (51 males and 29 females) with a mean age of 4.11 ± 1.93. Patients with specific language impairment showed significantly higher rates of abnormal electroencephalography (P = 0.006) and epilepsy (P < 0.001) compared to the control group. Spearman correlation demonstrated a highly negative significant relationship linking the language, intelligence quotient with abnormal electroencephalography and epilepsy (r = − 0.91, P < 0.01 and r = − 0.91, P < 0.01 respectively). Also, there was a moderately inverse significant relationship linking the cognitive age, social with abnormal electroencephalography, and epilepsy (r = − 0.70, P < 0.05 and r = − 0.65, P < 0.05 respectively). Conclusion Epileptiform activities even without epilepsy in preschool children may alter normal language function. Specific language impairment was associated with lower intelligence quotient levels, social, and cognitive age. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT04141332

The Impact of Manipulating Attentional Shifting Demands on Preschool Children With Specific Language Impairment

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 324-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yara Aljahlan ◽  
Tammie J. Spaulding
Keyword(s):  
Preschool Children ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Response Speed ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Load Shifting ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Attentional Shifting

Purpose This study investigated attentional shifting in preschool children with specific language impairment (SLI) compared to their typically developing peers. Children's attentional shifting capacity was assessed by varying attentional demands. Method Twenty-five preschool children with SLI and 25 age-matched, typically developing controls participated. A behavioral task measuring attentional shifting within and across multiple dimensions (auditory, linguistic, and visual) was employed. Demands on attentional shifting were increased based on input dimension (low load: staying within dimension; medium load: shifting between 2 dimensions; and high load: shifting among 3 dimensions). Results Compared to controls, the group with SLI made more erroneous responses and exhibited longer response times. Although both groups' error rates were similarly affected by shifting compared to nonshifting trials, their response speed was not. The group with SLI exhibited a larger comparative decrement to their response speed in the high–attentional load condition. Discussion When demands on attentional shifting increase, children with SLI struggle to shift their attention as efficiently to changing stimuli as their unimpaired peers. Potential implications for the assessment and treatment of this population are discussed.

scholarly journals Children with deficit in executive abilities have risk for emerging weakness in grammar understanding

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
S Kiselev
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Specific Language Impairments ◽  
Design Fluency ◽  
Experimental Group ◽  
Executive Abilities

Abstract Background Children with specific language impairment have difficulties producing and understanding language (Bishop, 1997). Specifically, these children have deficit in grammar understanding. The goal of this research was to examine the hypothesis that children at the age of 5-6 with deficit in executive abilities have a risk for emerging weakness in grammar understanding at the age of 8-9. Methods 136 children at the age of 5-6 were assessed using 5 subtests from NEPSY (Tower, Auditory Attention and Response Set, Visual Attention, Statue, Design Fluency), which are designed to assess executive abilities in children. We have revealed 27 children with deficit in executive abilities. These children were included in the experimental group. The control group included 27 children with no deficit in executive abilities. In the framework of longitudinal research children at the age of 8-9 from both groups were assessed by Grammar Understanding Test from Luria's neuropsychological assessment technique. Results One-way ANOVA has revealed significant differences (p&lt;.05) between groups for scores in Grammar Understanding Test. Children from experimental group had low level of grammar understanding. Conclusions This research has shown that deficit in executive abilities can predict the delay in development of grammar understanding in children. These results provided insight into cognitive mechanisms in typically developing and the underlying nature of specific language impairments, helping to elucidate the nature of impaired mechanism in this disorder. It can be assumed that deficit in executive abilities is one of the risk factors for emerging weakness in grammar understanding in children. Key messages Deficit in executive abilities is one of the risk factors for emerging weakness in grammar understanding in children. There is relationship between grammar understanding and executive abilities in children.

The Role of Memory in Processing Relative Clauses in Children With Specific Language Impairment

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pauline Frizelle ◽  
Paul Fletcher
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Matrix Clause ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Almost All

Purpose This study investigated the relationship between 2 components of memory—phonological short-term memory (pSTM) and working memory (WM)—and the control of relative clause constructions in children with specific language impairment (SLI). Method Children with SLI and 2 control groups—an age-matched and a younger group of children with typical development—repeated sentences, including relative clauses, representing 5 syntactic roles and 2 levels of matrix clause complexity. The Working Memory Test Battery for Children was administered. Results All 3 groups showed significant associations between pSTM and both types of matrix clause construction. For children with SLI, significant associations emerged between (a) WM and more complex matrix clause constructions, (b) WM and relative clauses including a range of syntactic roles, and (c) pSTM and the least difficult syntactic role. In contrast, the age-matched control group could repeat almost all syntactic roles without invoking the use of either memory component. Conclusions The role of pSTM and WM in the production of relative clauses by children with SLI is influenced by the degree of difficulty of the structure to be recalled. In therapy, the effect of WM limitations can be minimized by approaching each structure within the context of a simple matrix clause.

Past-Tense Marking by Children With and Without Specific Language Impairment

1997 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janna B. Oetting ◽  
Janice E. Horohov
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Grammatical Structure ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Impaired Group ◽  
Irregular Verbs ◽  
Morphological System

This study examined the productivity and representation of past-tense marking in children with and without specific language impairment (SLI). Participants were 11 6-year-olds with SLI, 11 age-matched controls, and 11 MLU-matched controls. Regular and irregular verbs were used to examine the productivity of regular marking. Past-tense representation was examined by asking children to inflect homophonous pairs of denominal and irregular root verbs. All three groups demonstrated productive marking of past tense, although as expected the accuracy of the impaired group was less than that of either control group. Patterns of past-tense marking as a function of a word's phonological composition and inflectional frequency were the same for the SLI- and MLU-matched groups, and all children presented a past-tense system that was sensitive to grammatical structure. The findings replicate previous research of the SLI morphological system and provide additional specification of these children's morphological strengths and weaknesses. Strengths include the children's sensitivity to grammatical and phonological characteristics of the lexicon; weaknesses include limited productivity of regular past-tense marking and a greater sensitivity to frequency manipulations as compared to normally developing children. Results are discussed in terms of the nature of the SLI profile. They also are used to evaluate the theoretical model on which the study was based.

scholarly journals Internalizing Behavioral Problems in Children with Specific Language Impairment

QJM ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 113 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
S Hassan ◽  
M Hegazi ◽  
H Ghandour ◽  
G Abdelrazek ◽  
D Elrefaie
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Problems ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Pervasive Developmental Disorders ◽  
Developmental Disorders ◽  
Behavioral Problem ◽  
Internalizing Behavior ◽  
Therapeutic Interventions ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Specific Language

Abstract Background Specific language impairment (SLI) occurs when children present language maturation, at least 12 months behind their chronological age in the absence of sensory or intellectual deficits, pervasive developmental disorders, evident cerebral damage, and adequate social and emotional conditions. Internalizing behavior is actions that are taken out toward the self. The symptoms of internalizing behavior problems are depression, anxiety, somatic complaints and withdrawal. Aim of the Work This study aimed to investigate the presence of internalizing behavioral problems among SLI and their frequencies if present. Patients and methods We assessed SLI by PLS-4 and assessed internalizing behavioral problems with CBCL 1 1/5-5. Fifty children with SLI with an age range of (4-5 years old), divided into 2 subgroups according to the type of SLI, are compared to fifty children with normal language development with the same age and gender regarding internalizing behavioral problems. Results SLI group had more internalizing behavioral problems than control group and there is significant association between behavioral problems and the severity of language deficits. Conclusion the most frequently behavioral problem found in preschool (SLI) children were withdrawn and anxiety, which need therapeutic interventions to remediate them.

scholarly journals Parental perception of stress and emotional-behavioural difficulties of children with autism spectrum disorder and specific language impairment

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 239694152097150
Author(s):  
Magda Di Renzo ◽  
Federico Bianchi di Castelbianco ◽  
Elena Vanadia ◽  
Massimiliano Petrillo ◽  
Lidia Racinaro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Sensory Profile ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Specific Language

Background and aims The daily challenges of caring for a child with autism spectrum disorder affect many areas of everyday life and parental well-being, as well as parents’ ability to manage the needs of the family and the child concerned. A better understanding of parents’ perception of their child’s characteristics can allow better support for them and individualize intervention protocols in a more accurate way. The main objective of this study is the evaluation of the perception of stress by parents of children with autism compared to parents of children with specific language impairment. Methods The parents of 87 children aged between 2 and 6 years were included in this study, 34 children with a specific language impairment diagnosis and 53 children with an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis (ASD) or at risk of developing it. They were asked to complete a self-report on perceived stress and rating scales on adaptive/problematic behaviours, executive functions and sensory profile of the child. Results The results reveal that parents of ASD children, compared to the control group, showed significantly higher levels of stress, mainly due to the difficulty of managing unexpected events, the feeling of loss of control over one's life and the fear of not being able to cope with the adversities they were experiences. The most critical area, both for ASD and control group, concern the executive function related to emotional reactions. Conclusions Thus, we argue that the difficulties in self-control, sensory modulation and emotional regulation, represent an element of stress for parents of children with developmental disorders. Implications: Regarding the difficulties of children with ASD, supporting the ways in which caregivers adapt to the signals of children is an important strategy, which has now become a key element of treatments for autism mediated by parents.

fMRI Brain Activation in a Finnish Family With Specific Language Impairment Compared With a Normal Control Group

2004 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 162-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Hugdahl ◽  
Hilde Gundersen ◽  
Cecilie Brekke ◽  
Tormod Thomsen ◽  
Lars Morten Rimol ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Frontal Lobe ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Brain Activation ◽  
Functional Brain Imaging ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Imaging Data ◽  
Intact Control ◽  
Specific Language

The aim of the present study was to investigate differences in brain activation in a family with SLI as compared to intact individuals with normally developed language during processing of language stimuli. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to monitor changes in neuronal activation in temporal and frontal lobe areas in 5 Finnish family members with specific language impairment (SLI) and 6 individuals in an intact control group. Magnetic resonance (MR) image acquisitions were made while the participants listened to series of isolated vowel sounds, pseudowords, and real words. The stimuli were digitized single Finnish vowel sounds, 3-phoneme pseudowords, and 3- and 4-phoneme real words. MR scanning was made with a 1.5 T Siemens Vision Plus scanner, and the auditory stimuli were presented according to an event-related fMRI design. The results showed significant differences between the family with SLI and the intact control group with regard to brain activation in areas in the temporal and frontal lobes. Temporal lobe activation differences were most pronounced in the middle temporal gyrus bordering the superior temporal sulcus. The control participants also activated an area in the inferior frontal lobe in BA 44. It is concluded that individuals with SLI showed reduced activation in brain areas that are critical for speech processing and phonological awareness. The present functional brain imaging data fit well with other recent imaging data that also showed structural abnormalities in the same and neighboring areas.

The Influence of Peer Models on the Play Scripts of Children With Specific Language Impairment

1997 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shari Brand Robertson ◽  
Susan Ellis Weismer
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Experimental Treatment ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Control Group Design ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Peer Modeling ◽  
Normal Language ◽  
Peer Models

This investigation included two phases of inquiry that examined the effects of peer modeling upon the play scripts of children with specific language impairment (SLI). The first study employed a pretest-posttest control group design involving two groups of children with SLI (10 who participated in the experimental treatment and 10 controls) and a group of peer models (10 children with normal language development). The treatment involved dyadic play sessions in which children with SLI were paired with a normal language peer model. Significant differences were found between the play script reports of the experimental (SLI-E) and control groups (SLI-C) of children with specific language impairment. The second study, utilizing single-case methodology, involved 6 children with SLI who participated in the control group of Study 1, plus 2 peer models. Play dyads consisted of either two children with SLI or one child with SLI and a normal language peer. Results of this study provided support for the contention that play interactions with normal language peers facilitates increases in the play-script reports of children with SLI.

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