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Abstract
It has long been argued that abnormal cerebral lateralisation might underlie the language problems that characterise Down syndrome, but to date only behavioural evidence has been provided. We used the auditory event-related potentials Ta and Tb of the T-complex to investigate lateralised processing of speech (vowels) and non-speech (simple and complex tones) sounds in children with Down syndrome and age-matched typically developing children. We also explored associations with speech and language abilities. Although changes in the Ta and Tb in response to increases in stimulus complexity and ‘speechness’ were similar across group, the Tb peak was delayed in children with Down syndrome across conditions. In addition, marked differences in the patterns of lateralisation of Ta latency and Tb amplitude were observed in children with Down syndrome, in response to both speech and non-speech sounds. No associations were found between Ta and Tb characteristics and speech and language abilities in children with DS.
Highlights
It has long been argued that abnormal cerebral lateralisation might underlie the language problems that characterise Down syndrome, but to date only behavioural evidence has been provided
Do children with Down syndrome (DS) show a higher incidence of delayed, deviant or absent Ta and Tb peaks, as has been reported in children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) and children with autism? Second, are there differences in Ta and Tb in response to speech sounds compared to tones? Third, do children with DS show atypical patterns of lateralisation of auditory processing as reflected by abnormal lateralisation patterns of Ta and/or Tb? We presented speech and non-speech sounds matched in stimulus complexity and hypothesised that an atypical pattern of lateralisation in children with DS might be more pronounced in response to speech sounds compared to non-speech sounds
We found many similarities between auditory ERPs of children with DS and age-matched controls, despite substantial differences in cognitive ability
Summary
It has long been argued that abnormal cerebral lateralisation might underlie the language problems that characterise Down syndrome, but to date only behavioural evidence has been provided. We used the auditory event-related potentials Ta and Tb of the T-complex to investigate lateralised processing of speech (vowels) and non-speech (simple and complex tones) sounds in children with Down syndrome and age-matched typically developing children. Evidence from intracranial recordings and lesion studies suggest that Tb reflects activity from the lateral surfaces of the temporal lobe, that is, secondary auditory cortex (Celesia et al, 1968; Celesia and Puletti, 1969; Peronnet et al, 1974) Both Ta and Tb are present from an early age and decrease in latency and amplitude with development up to 12– 16 years of age (Gomes et al, 2001; Tonnquist-Uhlen et al, 2003). As far as we are aware, the Ta and Tb have not been described in individuals with DS
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