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

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<.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.

Children with weakness in grammar understanding have weakness in visuospatial abilities

Objectives Weakness in grammar understanding is key feature of children with specific language impairments (SLI). The goal of this research was to check out the hypothesis that children with weakness in grammar understanding have also weakness in visuospatial abilities. Methods The children were assessed with the task 'Comprehension of grammatical structures' from Luria's neuropsychological assessment for children. Experimental group included 27 children with weakness in grammar understanding. The control group included 27 children with typical grammar understanding. The children from experimental and control group were matched for IQ, gender and age. To assess the visuospatial abilities in children we used two tasks from Luria's neuropsychological assessment battery (Constructional Praxis and Head Test) as well as the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure test. Results One-way ANOVAs by group revealed significant differences (p ≤ 0,05) between the groups for scores in all visuospatial tasks. It can be assumed that children with weakness in grammar understanding have also weakness in visuospatial functions. We also revealed significant differences (p ≤ 0,05) between the groups for number of spatial errors in the Rey-Osterieth Complex Figure test. Conclusions This study suggests that children with weakness in grammar understanding have also weakness in visuospatial abilities. Received results provided insight into cognitive and language mechanisms in typically developing children and the underlying nature of SLI, helping to elucidate the nature of impaired mechanism in children with weakness in grammar understanding. Key messages Children with weakness in grammar understanding have weakness in visuospatial abilities. It is possible that children with specific language impairments have deficit in nonverbal abilities.

Neuroanatomical dissociations of syntax and semantics revealed by lesion-symptom mapping

In the early and mid 1800s, scientists debated whether the human brain was functionally differentiated with respect to cognition. The issue was largely resolved when specific language impairments were identified following focal patterns of brain damage. However, neuroimaging has revived this discussion, as many studies find similar syntactic and semantic effects across the set of brain regions implicated in language. Here we address this modern debate using lesion-symptom mapping in two large, partially-overlapping groups of people with left hemisphere brain damage due to stroke (N=121, N=92). We identified multiple measure by region interaction effects, associating damage to the posterior middle temporal gyrus with syntactic comprehension deficits, damage to posterior inferior frontal gyrus with expressive agrammatism, and damage to inferior angular gyrus with semantic category word fluency deficits. Our results are inconsistent with recent hypotheses that regions of the language network play similar roles in high-level linguistic processing.

The Neural Organization of Signed Language

Current understanding of the brain systems involved in language has been largely derived through the study of spoken languages. However, as naturally occurring manual-visual sign languages used in Deaf communities attest, human languages are not limited to the oral-aural modality. The existence of sign languages used in Deaf communities provides a unique opportunity to test the generality of biological models of human language. The comparison of neural systems supporting spoken and signed language allows researchers to distinguish brain systems that are common across human languages from brain systems that reflect the modality of language expression (e.g., auditory perceptual versus visual perceptual processes). These comparisons make it possible to address long-standing issues regarding the expression of language in the brain. Neuroimaging and aphasia studies of deaf signers reveal great commonalties in the neural systems used for sign and speech and provide evidence for a core neurobiological substrate for human linguistic communication. Also observed are cases of modality-specific patterns of brain activation and modality-specific language impairments that speak to functional specialization based upon sensory and motor systems unique to speech and sign. As increasingly sophisticated neurobiological models of language processing emerge, researchers are poised to ask new questions about the biological substrates of human communication is all its various forms.