Abstract
Abstract Difficulties in phonological processing and speech perception are associated with developmental dyslexia, but there is considerable diversity across people with developmental dyslexia (e.g., dyslexics with and without phonological difficulties). Phonological and morphological awareness are both known to play an important role in reading acquisition. Problems in morpho-phonological information processing could arguably be associated with developmental dyslexia, especially for Finnish, which is a rich morphologically language. We used MEG to study the connection between morpho-phonology in the Finnish language and familial risk for developmental dyslexia. We measured event-related fields (ERFs) of 22 pre-school children without risk and 18 children with familial risk for developmental dyslexia during a morphological task. Pairs of sentences consisting of a verb and its derived noun with the derivational suffix/–jA/and pairs of sentences consisting of a pseudo-verb and its pseudo-noun ending with the same suffix were presented to the participants. The derived nouns were also divided into correctly and incorrectly derived forms. Incorrectly derived forms contained an incorrect morpho-phonological change in the last vowel before the derivational suffix/-jA/. Both typically developing children and children at-risk for developmental dyslexia were sensitive to the morphological information, both in the case of real words and pseudowords, as shown by the sensor level analysis and cluster-based permutation tests for the responses to the morphologically correct vs. incorrect contrast. The groups showed somewhat different response patterns to this contrast. However, no significant differences were found in the between-group differences. No significant differences emerged between typically developing children and children at-risk for developmental dyslexia neither for real words nor for pseudowords. Overall, these findings suggest that pre-school children with and without risk for developmental dyslexia are already sensitive to the processing of morpho-phonological information before entering school.
Highlights
The goal of the current study is to investigate brain processes with event-related fields (ERFs) related to correct vs. incorrect morphological constructs in real words and pseudowords in Finnish pre-school children with and without familial risk for developmental dyslexia
We ask whether typically developed pre-school children differentiate correct and incorrect derivative words and pseudowords and how this is reflected in their ERF brain responses
The aim of the present study was twofold; first, to examine whether pre-school children are sensitive to the correct morphological constructs in real words and in extracting the underlying rule for those constructs in pseudowords and second, to examine whether pre-school children at-risk for developmental dyslexia would show atypical development of morphological sensitivity (Fig. 6)
Summary
The ability to connect written language successfully with spoken language results in typical reading acquisition (Carlisle, 2003). Development of fluent reading skills requires the ability to map written forms into phonological units (phonological awareness) as well as the ability to efficiently manipulate small units of language with. Difficulties in the acquisition of typical reading skills are addressed as developmental dyslexia (Ramus et al, 2003; Vellutino, Fletcher, Snowling, & Scanlon, 2004). The goal of the current study is to investigate brain processes measured using magnetoencephalography (MEG) while Finnish pre-school children with and without familial risk for developmental dyslexia identify correct and incorrect morphological constructs in real words and pseudowords. Brain responses measured with MEG can reveal different processing stages of morphological information, while behavioral measures are limited to reflecting the outcome of the whole chain of processing stages
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
