scholarly journals Impact of Early Rhythmic Training on Language Acquisition and Electrophysiological Functioning Underlying Auditory Processing: Feasibility and Preliminary Findings in Typically Developing Infants

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1546
Author(s):  
Chiara Dondena ◽  
Valentina Riva ◽  
Massimo Molteni ◽  
Gabriella Musacchia ◽  
Chiara Cantiani
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Receptive Language ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Neural Underpinnings ◽  
Development Outcomes ◽  
Two Peaks ◽  
Musical Rhythms

Previous evidence has shown that early auditory processing impacts later linguistic development, and targeted training implemented at early ages can enhance auditory processing skills, with better expected language development outcomes. This study focuses on typically developing infants and aims to test the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of music training based on active synchronization with complex musical rhythms on the linguistic outcomes and electrophysiological functioning underlying auditory processing. Fifteen infants participated in the training (RTr+) and were compared with two groups of infants not attending any structured activities during the same time frame (RTr−, N = 14). At pre- and post-training, expressive and receptive language skills were assessed using standardized tests, and auditory processing skills were characterized through an electrophysiological non-speech multi-feature paradigm. Results reveal that RTr+ infants showed significantly broader improvement in both expressive and receptive pre-language skills. Moreover, at post-training, they presented an electrophysiological pattern characterized by shorter latency of two peaks (N2* and P2), reflecting a neural change detection process: these shifts in latency go beyond those seen due to maturation alone. These results provide preliminary evidence on the efficacy of our training in improving early linguistic competences, and in modifying the neural underpinnings of auditory processing in infants.

Abnormal fMRI Activation Pattern During Story Listening in Individuals With Down Syndrome

2009 ◽  
Vol 114 (5) ◽  
pp. 369-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth A. Reynolds Losin ◽  
Susan M. Rivera ◽  
Elizabeth D. O'Hare ◽  
Elizabeth R. Sowell ◽  
Joseph D. Pinter
Keyword(s):  
Down Syndrome ◽  
Receptive Language ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Cingulate Gyrus ◽  
Activation Pattern ◽  
Activation Patterns ◽  
Middle Temporal ◽  
Story Listening ◽  
Neural Underpinnings ◽  
Language Areas

Abstract Down syndrome is characterized by disproportionately severe impairments of speech and language, yet little is known about the neural underpinnings of these deficits. We compared fMRI activation patterns during passive story listening in 9 young adults with Down syndrome and 9 approximately age-matched, typically developing controls. The typically developing group exhibited greater activation than did the Down syndrome group in classical receptive language areas (superior and middle temporal gyri) for forward > backward speech; the Down syndrome group exhibited greater activation in cingulate gyrus, superior and inferior parietal lobules, and precuneus for both forward speech > rest and backward speech > rest. The Down syndrome group showed almost no difference in activation patterns between the language (forward speech) and nonlanguage (backward speech) conditions.

scholarly journals VALIDATION OF STANDARDIZED INSTRUMENTS IN EVALUATING SPEECH-LANGUAGE DISORDERS: A CHALLENGE FOR CROSS-CULTURAL SETTINGS

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 3
Author(s):  
Zahra Ibrahim
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Functional Performance ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Receptive Language ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Speech Language Pathologist ◽  
Mental Age ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Primary Assessment

Communication has a meaningful impact between clinician and client in order to comprehend each other's language for effective therapeutic recovery and health related outcomes1.Standardized tests are considered as one of the primary assessment tools used by a speech language pathologist to evaluate and diagnose child language impairment. Test is administered upon the child where functional performance and scores reveals either the typically developing language skills or if an in-depth evaluation is required in any of the language domains3. Making use of the data and analyzing the child's expressive/receptive language skills that lags behind when compared to norm referenced data; if the child is par their chronological age or below their mental age.

scholarly journals Assessing language skills in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane King ◽  
Olympia Palikara
Keyword(s):  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Receptive Language ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Pragmatic Language ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Adolescents With Autism ◽  
Evaluative Language ◽  
Teachers And Parents ◽  
Adolescents With Asd

Language abilities in adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are variable and can be challenging to ascertain with confidence. This study aimed to compare and evaluate different forms of language assessment: standardized language testing, narrative analysis and parent/teacher reports. 14 adolescents with ASD and 14 typically developing adolescents matched on age, gender and nonverbal ability were assessed using a number of standardized assessments for receptive and expressive language skills, a standardized narrative test, two experimental narrative assessments and a parent/teacher report measure of pragmatics. The findings were that, although adolescents with ASD scored within the normal range on expressive and receptive language, their performance on narrative tasks revealed difficulties with both structural and evaluative language. It should be noted that both teachers and parents rated the pragmatic language skills of the young people with ASD as significantly lower than those of the typically developing group but parents were more likely than teachers to additionally identify difficulties in speech and syntax. The implications of these results for professionals in terms of assessing the language skills of adolescents with ASD and for the planning of appropriate intervention are discussed.

scholarly journals Do Infants With Down Syndrome Show an Early Receptive Language Advantage?

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 585-598
Author(s):  
Emily Mason-Apps ◽  
Vesna Stojanovik ◽  
Carmel Houston-Price ◽  
Emily Seager ◽  
Sue Buckley
Keyword(s):  
Down Syndrome ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Receptive Language ◽  
Receptive Vocabulary ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Auditory Comprehension ◽  
Expressive Vocabulary ◽  
Time Points ◽  
Expressive Communication ◽  
Shed Light

Purpose The study explored longitudinally the course of vocabulary and general language development in a group of infants with Down syndrome (DS) compared to a group of typically developing (TD) infants matched on nonverbal mental ability (NVMA). Method We compared the vocabulary and general language trajectories of the two groups in two ways: (a) at three time points during a 12-month period and (b) at two time points when the groups had made equal progress in NVMA (a period of 6 months for the TD infants vs. 12 months for the infants with DS). Results The TD group had overtaken the DS group on all general language and vocabulary measures by the end of the 12-month period. However, expressive communication and expressive vocabulary were developing at the same rate and level in the two groups when examined over a period in which the two groups were matched in gains in NVMA. Furthermore, the infants with DS showed a receptive language advantage over the TD group; this group's auditory comprehension and receptive vocabulary scores were superior to those of the TD group at both time points when NVMA was accounted for. Conclusion The results shed light on the widely reported discrepancy between expressive and receptive language in individuals with DS. Although infants with DS appear to be developing language skills more slowly than chronological age TD peers, when NVMA is taken into account, infants with DS do not have expressive language delays, and they seem to show a receptive language advantage.

scholarly journals The Association between Difficulties with Speech Fluency and Language Skills in a National Age Cohort of Children with Down Syndrome

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 704
Author(s):  
Kari-Anne B. Næss ◽  
Egil Nygaard ◽  
Hilde Hofslundsengen ◽  
J. Scott Yaruss
Keyword(s):  
Down Syndrome ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Exact Test ◽  
Children With Down Syndrome ◽  
Speech Fluency ◽  
Age Cohort ◽  
Student’S T

The present study (a) addressed difficulties in speech fluency in children with Down syndrome and typically developing children at a similar non-verbal level and (b) examined the association between difficulties with speech fluency and language skills in children with Down syndrome. Data from a cross-sectional parent survey that included questions about children’s difficulties with speech fluency, as well as clinical tests from a national age cohort of 43 six-year-olds with Down syndrome and 57 young typically developing children, were collected. Fisher’s exact test, Student’s t-test, linear regression, and density ellipse scatter plots were used for analysis. There was a significantly higher occurrence of parent-reported difficulties with speech fluency in the children with Down syndrome. Higher language scores were significantly associated with a lower degree of difficulties; this association was strongest for vocabulary and phonological skills. Although difficulties with speech fluency were not reported for all children with Down syndrome, a substantially higher occurrence of such difficulties was reported compared to that for typically developing children. The significant association between difficulties with speech fluency and the level of language functioning suggests that speech fluency and language skills should be taken into consideration when planning treatment for children with Down syndrome.

Phonological Awareness and Phonemic Perception in 4-Year-Old Children With Delayed Expressive Phonology Skills

2003 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 463-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Rvachew ◽  
Alyssa Ohberg ◽  
Meghann Grawburg ◽  
Joan Heyding
Keyword(s):  
Phonological Awareness ◽  
Early Literacy ◽  
Emergent Literacy ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Receptive Language ◽  
Receptive Vocabulary ◽  
Vocabulary Skills ◽  
Literacy Knowledge ◽  
Age Appropriate ◽  
Expressive Phonology

The purpose of this study was to compare the phonological awareness abilities of 2 groups of 4-year-old children: one with normally developing speech and language skills and the other with moderately or severely delayed expressive phonological skills but age-appropriate receptive vocabulary skills. Each group received tests of articulation, receptive vocabulary, phonemic perception, early literacy, and phonological awareness skills. The groups were matched for receptive language skills, age, socioeconomic status, and emergent literacy knowledge. The children with expressive phonological delays demonstrated significantly poorer phonemic perception and phonological awareness skills than their normally developing peers. The results suggest that preschool children with delayed expressive phonological abilities should be screened for their phonological awareness skills even when their language skills are otherwise normally developing.

scholarly journals Prefrontal High Gamma in ECoG tags periodicity of musical rhythms in perception and imagination

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. A. Herff ◽  
C. Herff ◽  
A. J. Milne ◽  
G. D. Johnson ◽  
J. J. Shih ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Superior Temporal Gyrus ◽  
Gamma Activity ◽  
Rhythm Perception ◽  
High Gamma ◽  
The Right ◽  
Musical Rhythms

AbstractRhythmic auditory stimuli are known to elicit matching activity patterns in neural populations. Furthermore, recent research has established the particular importance of high-gamma brain activity in auditory processing by showing its involvement in auditory phrase segmentation and envelope-tracking. Here, we use electrocorticographic (ECoG) recordings from eight human listeners, to see whether periodicities in high-gamma activity track the periodicities in the envelope of musical rhythms during rhythm perception and imagination. Rhythm imagination was elicited by instructing participants to imagine the rhythm to continue during pauses of several repetitions. To identify electrodes whose periodicities in high-gamma activity track the periodicities in the musical rhythms, we compute the correlation between the autocorrelations (ACC) of both the musical rhythms and the neural signals. A condition in which participants listened to white noise was used to establish a baseline. High-gamma autocorrelations in auditory areas in the superior temporal gyrus and in frontal areas on both hemispheres significantly matched the autocorrelation of the musical rhythms. Overall, numerous significant electrodes are observed on the right hemisphere. Of particular interest is a large cluster of electrodes in the right prefrontal cortex that is active during both rhythm perception and imagination. This indicates conscious processing of the rhythms’ structure as opposed to mere auditory phenomena. The ACC approach clearly highlights that high-gamma activity measured from cortical electrodes tracks both attended and imagined rhythms.

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