Exploring the Neural Structures Underlying the Procedural Memory Network as Predictors of Language Ability in Children and Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Introduction: There is significant overlap in the type of structural language impairments exhibited by children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This similarity suggests that the cognitive impairment(s) contributing to the structural language deficits in ASD and ADHD may be shared. Previous studies have speculated that procedural memory deficits may be the shared cognitive impairment. The procedural deficit hypothesis (PDH) argues that language deficits can be explained by differences in the neural structures underlying the procedural memory network. This hypothesis is based on the premise that the neural structures comprising the procedural network support language learning. In this study, we aimed to test the PDH in children with ASD, ADHD, and typical development (TD).Methods: One hundred and sixty-three participants (ages 10–21): 91 with ASD, 26 with ADHD, and 46 with TD, completed standardized measures of cognitive and language ability as well as structural magnetic resonance imaging. We compared the structural language abilities, the neural structures underlying the procedural memory network, and the relationship between structural language and neural structure across diagnostic groups.Results: Our analyses revealed that while the structural language abilities differed across ASD, ADHD, and TD groups, the thickness, area, and volume of the structures supporting the procedural memory network were not significantly different between diagnostic groups. Also, several neural structures were associated with structural language abilities across diagnostic groups. Only two of these structures, the inferior frontal gyrus, and the left superior parietal gyrus, are known to be linked to the procedural memory network.Conclusions: The inferior frontal gyrus and the left superior parietal gyrus, have well-established roles in language learning independent of their role as part of the procedural memory system. Other structures such as the caudate and cerebellum, with critical roles in the procedural memory network, were not associated with structural language abilities across diagnostic groups. It is unclear whether the procedural memory network plays a fundamental role in language learning in ASD, ADHD, and TD.

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Language deficits in specific language impairment, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and autism spectrum disorder: An analysis of polygenic risk

Autism Research ◽

10.1002/aur.2211 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 369-381 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Ron Nudel ◽

Camilla A. J. Christiani ◽

Jessica Ohland ◽

Md Jamal Uddin ◽

Nicoline Hemager ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ◽

Attention Deficit ◽

Language Impairment ◽

Specific Language Impairment ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Language Deficits ◽

Polygenic Risk ◽

Specific Language ◽

Hyperactivity Disorder

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Reduced sensitivity to context in language comprehension: A characteristic of Autism Spectrum Disorders or of poor structural language ability?

Research in Developmental Disabilities ◽

10.1016/j.ridd.2016.01.017 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 72 ◽

pp. 284-296 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Melanie Eberhardt ◽

Aparna Nadig

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽

Language Comprehension ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Language Ability ◽

Spectrum Disorders ◽

Structural Language

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Learners’ strategies with a grammar application: the influence of language ability and personality preferences

ReCALL ◽

10.1017/s0958344007000316 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

pp. 21-38 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

FENFANG HWU

Keyword(s):

Language Learning ◽

Learning Strategies ◽

Language Ability ◽

Future Research ◽

Placement Test ◽

Language Abilities ◽

Personality Preferences ◽

Myers Briggs ◽

Tracking Ability

This case study investigated the ways pre-major and pre-minor students of Spanish interacted with a grammar application from four perspectives. Firstly, using the computer’s tracking ability to collect learners’ behaviors, the study set out to uncover the different ways learners approached the application. Secondly, the study assessed the influence of two learner variables on learning behaviors: language abilities determined by a placement test and personality preferences measured by Jung-Myers-Briggs-Typology based approach. Thirdly, the study assessed whether the frequency of various behaviors resulted in different knowledge increases. Finally, the study categorized the uncovered behaviors into the learning strategies covered in the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) (Oxford 1990). The study concludes with implications for software improvement, as well as with indications of likely directions for future research.

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Language Processes and Linguistic Levels

Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools ◽

10.1044/0161-1461.1301.02 ◽

1982 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 2-10

Author(s):

Clara S. Wing

Keyword(s):

Response Selection ◽

Expressive Language ◽

Language Ability ◽

Auditory Memory ◽

Auditory Attention ◽

Assessment Instruments ◽

Language Abilities ◽

Language Deficits ◽

Oral Motor

Historical reasons for the variety of approaches to the classification of language abilities and disabilities are explained. A model of language abilities in matrix form is described in which areas of language ability are defined in terms of the effects of receptive and expressive language processes on four linguistic levels: phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. The language processes are selective auditory attention, auditory discrimination, auditory memory, auditory association or comprehension, response selection and organization, oral retrieval, oral sequencing, and oral motor output. This model provides a better basis for assessment and remediation of language deficits than does one in which language processes and linguistic levels are seen as parallel because its framework can be used for evaluating and selecting nonconfounding assessment instruments so that specific areas of deficit can be identified.

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Treating Stuttering in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Education and Technology Support for Children and Young Adults With ASD and Learning Disabilities - Advances in Early Childhood and K-12 Education ◽

10.4018/978-1-7998-7053-1.ch011 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 208-222

Author(s):

Shoko Miyamoto ◽

Masayoshi Tsuge

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ◽

Case Reports ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Language Ability ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Hyperactivity Disorder ◽

Children With Asd ◽

Factors Influencing

The number of case reports of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who stutter is increasing. The duration of intervention for stuttering in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is often greater than for children who only stutter. Whether there is a similar pattern in children with ASD who stutter should also be examined. In this study, the factors influencing the prognoses of two children with stuttering and ASD were investigated. One child's stuttering had improved and had almost been eliminated, and the other's stuttering continued. The results of the investigation showed that a significant increase in language ability and the absence of physiological problems assisted in eliminating stuttering. The child who continued to stutter originally showed a higher than average language level and high anxiety. Preventing and eliminating anxiety that accompanies ASD, in addition to intervention for stuttering, may be indispensable to reduce stuttering and improve fluency.

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Child and adolescent psychiatry

Oxford Handbook of Psychiatry ◽

10.1093/med/9780199693887.003.0016 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 609-668

Keyword(s):

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ◽

Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽

Drug Treatment ◽

Language Learning ◽

Adolescent Psychiatry ◽

Attention Deficit ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Child And Adolescent Psychiatry ◽

Tic Disorders ◽

Hyperactivity Disorder

Introduction Assessment 1: principles Assessment 2: practice Development Resilience Attachment An approach to behavioural problems Conduct disorder (CD) Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) Drug treatment of ADHD Adults with ADHD Autism-spectrum disorders (ASD) (Gilles de la) Tourette’s syndrome Other tic disorders Language, learning and motor co-ordination disorders...

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Structural and Pragmatic Language Impairments in Children Evaluated for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders ◽

10.1007/s10803-020-04853-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Lise Reindal ◽

Terje Nærland ◽

Bernhard Weidle ◽

Stian Lydersen ◽

Ole A. Andreassen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Language Skills ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Language Impairments ◽

Language Delay ◽

Pragmatic Competence ◽

Pragmatic Language ◽

Early Language ◽

Language Deficits ◽

Early Language Delay ◽

Structural Language

AbstractPragmatic language impairments are common in neurodevelopmental disorders, especially in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The relationship between structural language skills and pragmatic competence in children with autistic symptoms, however, is largely unknown. We investigated this relationship based on the Children’s Communication Checklist-2 and early language delay among children (N = 177, 19% females) clinically evaluated for ASD, differentiated into ASD (n = 148) and non-ASD (n = 29). Structural language deficits were common and associated with reduced pragmatic competence in both groups. Pragmatic language impairments were most profound in children with ASD. Early language delay and structural language deficits were less common in females. Our findings suggest that assessment of structural language skills should be included in the evaluation of children with suspected ASD.

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Differential Diagnosis of Autism and other Developmental Disabilities in International Adoption Cases: The Implications of Language Abilities

Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology ◽

10.1891/194589505787382577 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 89-102 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Stephen Camarata

Keyword(s):

Differential Diagnosis ◽

Foreign Language ◽

Cognitive Abilities ◽

International Adoption ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Language Ability ◽

Language Abilities ◽

Assessment And Treatment ◽

Spectrum Disorders ◽

Classification And Treatment

An accurate differential diagnosis of children adopted from foreign language situations that include challenging conditions (e.g., neglect) often rests upon accurate measurement of cognitive abilities in the context of low English proficiency, specifically, and may also include generally poor linguistic skills in the native language. In addition, because the goal of any adoption program is ultimately to generate effective intervention supports when needed and measurable progress in function as the child assimilates into his/her new home, it is essential that these programs be designed within the context of valid measurement. Given the particular confluence of low language ability and entrée into a culture that may have differing social interactive norms than the previous culture, one can imagine that identifying disabilities generally, but social-interactive based disabilities such as autism spectrum disorders specifically, could be problematic. Thus, assessment and treatment in these children is difficult and fraught with potential pitfalls. Moreover, recent advances in the measurement of cognitive abilities have out-paced changes in diagnostic classification and treatment methods, and it appears that applications to international adoption cases have lagged even further. This suggests that diagnosis should not be guided solely by available subtests on an intelligence battery or on clinical ascertainment instruments, because these could be confounded by language ability and cultural background. The purpose of this paper is to review measurement of cognitive abilities and diagnosis in international adoption situations and discuss methods for ensuring that diagnosis and treatment include consideration of potential pitfalls. In addition, potential confounds on clinical instruments are discussed.

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The influence of child-based factors and parental inputs on expressive language abilities in children with autism spectrum disorder

Autism ◽

10.1177/13623613211054597 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 136236132110545

Author(s):

Xue-Ke Song ◽

Wing-Chee So

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Language Skills ◽

Expressive Language ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Language Ability ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Language Outcomes ◽

Autistic Children ◽

Language Abilities ◽

Autism Traits

Studies of language development in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been primarily focused on the influence of child-based factors such as autism traits, IQ, and initial language skills. Yet the findings of these studies are inconclusive. There has, moreover, been little research compared the relative influences of child-based factors with environmental factors, (e.g. parental inputs). The current study attempts to fill this research gap by examining a range of both child-based factors and parental inputs. We measured the structural language abilities manifested in parent-child interactions over four time points across nine months in 42 Chinese-speaking autistic children ( M = 57.42 months, SD = 11.39). Our results showed that children’s mean length of utterance (MLU), word types, and word tokens grew rapidly, but their development trajectories varied. Initial expressive language ability was a significant predictor of children’s language outcomes, while nonverbal IQ and autism traits did not relate to children’s language abilities when controlling for initial expressive language ability. Parents’ MLU, word tokens, and word types did not associate with children’s structural language abilities. The findings shed lights on the importance of one of the child-based factors in particular, that is, initial expressive language skills, in the language development of autistic children. Lay abstract Language impairment is one of the early signs of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) that alerts parents to take their children for early diagnosis and intervention. Little is known about how children’s autism traits, IQ, initial language abilities and parental inputs influence their language abilities. In addition, only a few studies have compared the relative influence of these factors. The present study addressed these issues by examining the structural language in parent-child spontaneous interactions. Forty-two Cantonese (Chinese)-speaking autistic children aged four to eight were recruited. Their expressive language skills grew rapidly more than 9 months, but their development trajectories varied. Initial expressive language ability is the only significant predictor of child language outcomes and language growth trajectories. In contrast, nonverbal cognition, autism traits, and parents’ input do not affect language outcomes in children with ASD. Therefore, early language intervention is crucial for autistic children at all severity and IQ levels.

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