Electrocortical Dynamics in Children with a Language-Learning Impairment Before and After Audiovisual Training.

Sabine Heim,Naseem Choudhury,April A Benasich

doi:10.1007/s10548-015-0466-y

Abstract

Detecting and discriminating subtle and rapid sound changes in the speech environment is a fundamental prerequisite of language processing, and deficits in this ability have frequently been observed in individuals with language-learning impairments (LLI). One approach to studying associations between dysfunctional auditory dynamics and LLI, is to implement a training protocol tapping into this potential while quantifying pre- and post-intervention status. Event-related potentials (ERPs) are highly sensitive to the brain correlates of these dynamic changes and are therefore ideally suited for examining hypotheses regarding dysfunctional auditory processes. In this study, ERP measurements to rapid tone sequences (standard and deviant tone pairs) along with behavioral language testing were performed in 6- to 9-year-old LLI children (n = 21) before and after audiovisual training. A non-treatment group of children with typical language development (n = 12) was also assessed twice at a comparable time interval. The results indicated that the LLI group exhibited considerable gains on standardized measures of language. In terms of ERPs, we found evidence of changes in the LLI group specifically at the level of the P2 component, later than 250 ms after the onset of the second stimulus in the deviant tone pair. These changes suggested enhanced discrimination of deviant from standard tone sequences in widespread cortices, in LLI children after training.

Highlights

The ability to detect and discriminate change in the auditory environment is crucial for a wide spectrum of behavioral and cognitive processes
Detecting and discriminating subtle and rapid sound changes in the speech environment is a fundamental prerequisite of language processing, and deficits in this ability have frequently been observed in individuals with language-learning impairments (LLI)
In terms of Event-related potentials (ERPs), we found evidence of changes in the LLI group at the level of the P2 component, later than 250 ms after the onset of the second & Sabine Heim sabine.heim@rutgers.edu; S.Heim@ljmu.ac.uk

Summary

Introduction

The ability to detect and discriminate change in the auditory environment is crucial for a wide spectrum of behavioral and cognitive processes. The fast sequential changes in amplitude and frequency related to speech require rapid analysis on the level of sensory processing (bottom-up), and require identification and isolation (top-down) from competing simultaneous sounds, such as environmental noise. This complex auditory task is achieved with ease and in a seemingly effortless fashion over typical development, but is believed to go awry in a condition termed language-learning impairment (Tallal and Gaab 2006).

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