Nonverbal Cognition Research Articles

Temporal-sampling theory and language in Down syndrome: An empirical study

BackgroundTemporal-sampling theory argues that difficulties in the processing of syllable stress auditory markers and in lexical stress discrimination contribute to explaining the language problems of children with developmental language disorder and of those with dyslexia. The theory has not been tested in other developmental disabilities. AimsThis research sought to assess the potential of temporal-sampling theory as a framework to accounting for language difficulties in Down syndrome (DS). Methods and proceduresThresholds for auditory markers of lexical stress, lexical stress discrimination, and receptive vocabulary were studied in teenagers and young adults with DS and in peers with other intellectual disability (ID) of unknown origin matched on chronological age and non-verbal cognition. Outcomes and resultsFrequency and intensity thresholds were higher in participants with DS, and their lexical stress discrimination and receptive vocabulary skills were lower than those of the group with other ID. Lexical stress discrimination was predicted by intensity thresholds and group, while receptive vocabulary was only predicted by lexical stress discrimination. Conclusions and implicationsThe results suggest that temporal-sampling theory is useful to explain language difficulties in individuals with DS or with other ID. This opens up new window opportunities for the design of language intervention programs in such populations.

Uh and um in autism: The case of hesitation marker usage in Dutch-speaking autistic preschoolers.

English-speaking autistic children use the hesitation marker um less often than non-autistic children but use uh at a similar rate. It is unclear why this is the case. We employed a sample of Dutch-speaking children from the Preschool Brain Imaging and Behavior Project to examine hesitation markers in autistic and non-autistic preschoolers with the aim to 1) make a crosslinguistic comparison of hesitation marker usage and 2) examine hypotheses regarding the underlying linguistic mechanisms of hesitation markers: the symptom hypothesis and the signal hypothesis. We found initial group differences in all hesitation markers but these results were rendered insignificant after controlling for age, sex and nonverbal cognition. We found significant correlations between hesitation marker usage and expressive and receptive language, but not autism traits. Lastly, we show interesting cross-linguistic differences in hesitation marker usage between Dutch-speaking participants and previously described English-speaking participants, such as a preference for um over uh.

Expanding the Neuropsychological Phenotype of KAT6B Disorders: Overlapping Features with KAT6A Syndrome.

KAT6B and KAT6A belong to the MYST family of lysine acetyltransferases, and regulate gene expression via histone modification. Although both proteins share similar structure and epigenetic regulatory functions, it remains unclear if KAT6A/6B mutation disorders, both very rare conditions, yield the same neurocognitive presentation and thus benefit from similar treatment approaches. This study provides a preliminary overview of neuropsychological functioning of 13 individuals with KAT6B disorder (Mean age = 9.01 years, SD = 5.46), which was compared to that of a recently published sample of 15 individuals with KAT6A syndrome (Mean age = 10.32 years, SD = 4.12). Participants completed a neuropsychological test battery to assess non-verbal cognition, and caregivers completed a series of standardized rating inventories to assess daily behavioral functioning. Results reveal those with KAT6B disorders present with severe adaptive deficits (92.3%) and autism-related behaviors (83.3%), juxtaposed with relatively low concerns with externalizing behaviors (7.6%), a pattern shared by the KAT6A group. Those with KAT6B disorders present with high levels of autistic features, including reduced affiliative interest, whereas social motivation is less affected within the KAT6A group. Overall, the levels of impairment in nonverbal cognition and receptive language were comparable among those with KAT6B disorders, a trend also seen in the KAT6A group. In brief, KAT6B and KAT6A disorders yield analogous neuropsychological profiles. Findings implicate common molecular pathophysiological mechanisms for these epigenetic disorders, such that similar therapies may have shared effect across diseases.

Pilot Study of Personalized Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation with Spectral Electroencephalogram Analyses for Assessing and Treating Persons with Autism.

Autism spectrum condition (ASC) is a neurodevelopmental condition that is only partly responsive to prevailing interventions. ASC manifests core challenges in social skills, communication, and sensory function and by repetitive stereotyped behaviors, along with imbalances in the brain's excitatory (E) and inhibitory (I) signaling. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has shown promise in ASC and may be a useful addition to applied behavioral analysis (ABA), a gold-standard psychotherapeutic intervention. We report an open-label clinical pilot (initial) study in which ABA-treated ASC persons (n = 123) received our personalized rTMS protocol (PrTMS). PrTMS uses low TMS pulse intensities and continuously updates multiple cortical stimulation locales and stimulation frequencies based on the spectral EEG and psychometrics. No adverse effects developed, and 44% of subjects had ASC scale scores reduced to below diagnostic cutoffs. Importantly, in PrTMS responders, the spectral EEG regression flattened, implying a more balanced E/I ratio. Moreover, with older participants, alpha peak frequency increased, a positive correlate of non-verbal cognition. PrTMS may be an effective ASC intervention, offering improved cognitive function and overall symptomatology. This warrants further research into PrTMS mechanisms and specific types of subjects who may benefit, along with validation of the present results and exploration of broader clinical applicability.

Reading language of the eyes in female depression.

Aberrations in non-verbal social cognition have been reported to coincide with major depressive disorder. Yet little is known about the role of the eyes. To fill this gap, the present study explores whether and, if so, how reading language of the eyes is altered in depression. For this purpose, patients and person-by-person matched typically developing individuals were administered the Emotions in Masked Faces task and Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test, modified, both of which contained a comparable amount of visual information available. For achieving group homogeneity, we set a focus on females as major depressive disorder displays a gender-specific profile. The findings show that facial masks selectively affect inferring emotions: recognition of sadness and anger are more heavily compromised in major depressive disorder as compared with typically developing controls, whereas the recognition of fear, happiness, and neutral expressions remains unhindered. Disgust, the forgotten emotion of psychiatry, is the least recognizable emotion in both groups. On the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test patients exhibit lower accuracy on positive expressions than their typically developing peers, but do not differ on negative items. In both depressive and typically developing individuals, the ability to recognize emotions behind a mask and performance on the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test are linked to each other in processing speed, but not recognition accuracy. The outcome provides a blueprint for understanding the complexities of reading language of the eyes within and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

Social and Linguistic Correlates of Vocabulary Size in Autism: Overlapping Vocalization and Phonological Memory.

This study sought to understand the wide variability in vocabulary development among autistic children by testing potential social and linguistic correlates of vocabulary size. The correlation between overlapping vocalization (i.e., an aspect of social interaction relevant to accessing input for vocabulary acquisition) and phonological memory (i.e., retaining linguistic sound sequences) with vocabulary size were examined in 22 autistic children (3 to 11years old) engaged in a structured nonword repetition task. Overlapping vocalization and phonological memory were correlated with vocabulary size. Overlapping vocalization remained a significant predictor of receptive and expressive vocabulary size when controlling phonological memory and nonverbal cognition. Both social and linguistic factors were associated with receptive and expressive vocabulary size in autistic children engaged in a structured task.

Early trajectories and moderators of autistic language profiles: A longitudinal study in preschoolers.

Language development can greatly vary among autistic children. Children who struggle with language acquisition often face many challenges and experience lower quality of life. However, little is known about the early language trajectories of autistic preschoolers and their moderators. Autistic language can be stratified into three profiles. Language unimpaired experience little to no language difficulties; language impaired show significant difficulties in language; minimally verbal never develop functional language. In this study, we used a longitudinal sample of preschoolers with autism and with typical development (aged 1.5-5.7 years). We replicated the three language profiles through a data-driven approach. We also found that different factors modulated the language outcome within each group. For instance, non-verbal cognition at age 2.4 moderated the participants' attribution to each language profile. Moreover, early intervention moderated verbal outcome in the language impaired profile. In conclusion, we provided a detailed description of how autistic preschoolers acquire language, and what factors might influence their trajectories. Our findings could inspire more personalized intervention for early autistic language difficulties.

Neuropsychological profile associated with KAT6A syndrome: Emergent genotype-phenotype trends

BackgroundKAT6A (Arboleda-Tham) syndrome is a Mendelian disorder of the epigenetic machinery caused by pathogenic variants in the lysine acetyltransferase 6 A (KAT6A) gene. Intellectual disability and speech/language impairment (e.g., minimally verbal) are common features of the disorder, with late-truncating variants associated with a more severe form of intellectual disability. However, much of the cognitive phenotype remains elusive given the dearth of research.Participants and methodsThis study examined non-verbal and social skills of 15 individuals with molecularly-confirmed diagnoses of KAT6A syndrome (Mean age = 10.32 years, SD = 4.12). Participants completed select subtests from the DAS-II, the NEPSY-II, and the Beery Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration 6th Edition, and their caregivers completed an assortment of behavior rating inventories.ResultsFindings suggest global cognitive impairment with nonverbal cognition scores similar to those for receptive language. Autism-related features, particularly restricted interests and repetitive behaviors, and broad adaptive deficits were common in our sample juxtaposed with a relatively strong social drive and low frequency of internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems. A general trend of lower performance scores on nonverbal and receptive language measures was observed among those with protein-truncating variants vs. missense variants; however, no effect was observed on caregiver rating inventories of daily behaviors. Late and early truncating variants yielded comparable neuropsychological profiles.ConclusionsOverall, study results show the cognitive phenotype of KAT6A syndrome includes equally impaired nonverbal cognition and receptive language functioning, paired with relatively intact social drive and strengths in behavior regulation. Emergent genotype-phenotype correlations suggest cognition may be more affected in protein-truncating than missense mutations although similar neurobehavioral profiles were observed.

Long-range white matter fibres and post-stroke verbal and non-verbal cognition.

Among stroke survivors, linguistic and non-linguistic impairments exhibit substantial inter-individual variability. Stroke lesion volume and location do not sufficiently explain outcomes, and the neural mechanisms underlying the severity of aphasia or non-verbal cognitive deficits remain inadequately understood. Converging evidence supports the idea that white matter is particularly susceptible to ischaemic injury, and long-range fibres are commonly associated with verbal and non-verbal function. Here, we investigated the relationship among post-stroke aphasia severity, cognition, and white matter integrity. Eighty-seven individuals in the chronic stage of stroke underwent diffusion MRI and behavioural testing, including language and cognitive measures. We used whole-brain structural connectomes from each participant to calculate the ratio of long-range fibres to short-range fibres. We found that a higher proportion of long-range fibres was associated with lower aphasia severity, more accurate picture naming, and increased performance on non-verbal semantic memory/processing and non-verbal reasoning while controlling for lesion volume, key damage areas, age, and years post stroke. Our findings corroborate the hypothesis that, after accounting for age and lesion anatomy, inter-individual differences in post-stroke aphasia severity, verbal, and non-verbal cognitive outcomes are related to the preservation of long-range white matter fibres beyond the lesion.

Factors associated with receptive and expressive language in autistic children and siblings: A systematic review.

Language abilities of autistic children and children at elevated likelihood for autism (EL-siblings) are highly heterogeneous, and many of them develop language deficits. It is as of yet unclear why language abilities of autistic children and EL-siblings vary, although an interaction of multiple influential factors is likely at play. In this review, we describe research articles that identify one or multiple of such factors associated with the receptive or expressive language abilities of autistic children and EL-siblings since the introduction of the DSM-5. Our aim was to identify and summarize factors that are linked to language development in autistic children and siblings in the recent literature to ultimately gain insight into the heterogeneity of language abilities in these children. The search strategy of this review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The following databases were consulted: Embase, MEDLINE, Web of Science Core Collection, and Scopus. Inclusion criteria for studies were the presence of a sample of autistic children no older than 7 years old who were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder per the criteria of the DSM-5. Intervention studies and studies without an explicitly reported language measure were excluded. Risk of bias assessment was completed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scales. Ultimately, 55 articles were included in this review. Fifty-six factors were identified to be related to receptive or expressive language abilities of autistic children and EL-siblings. They were grouped into three main categories: biological factors; psychosocial and environmental factors; and age-related and developmental factors, each with different subcategories. Although many of the identified variables were only examined in one article, some well-researched associated factors were reported across multiple studies and were present in both autistic children and EL-siblings, in particular joint attention, nonverbal cognitive abilities and frontal EEG power. Better insight in these factors associated with language abilities in autistic children and siblings at elevated likelihood can inform future intervention strategies to reduce language deficits and its corresponding negative consequences in these children. Our results confirm that multiple different factors likely underlie language deficits in autism. Important aspects that should be considered are, among others, social factors such as joint attention, child characteristics such as nonverbal cognition, and neurocognitive factors.

Prosodic skills in Spanish-speaking adolescents and young adults with Down syndrome.

Down syndrome (DS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder of genetic origin with a cognitive-behavioural profile that distinguishes it from other syndromes. Within this profile, language difficulties are particularly marked, having been more studied in childhood than in adulthood. More generally, there is a paucity of research on the prosodic skills of individuals with DS, despite the relevance of this linguistic component for effective communication. This study aimed to analyse, for the first time, the prosodic profile of Spanish-speaking teenagers and young adults with DS. We hypothesized that participants with DS would show significantly lower skills for the perception and production of prosodic functions and forms when compared to peers with intellectual disability (ID) of unknown origin. We also hypothesized that teenagers and young adults with DS would have better prosody perception than prosody production. The final sample included in the study comprised 28 Spanish-speaking teenagers and young adults with DS and 29 teenagers and young adults with other ID matched on chronological age and nonverbal cognition. Their prosodic skills were tested by means of the Profiling Elements of Prosody for Speech and Communication battery. This battery allows for the separate evaluation of the comprehension and expression of the communicative functions of prosody and the discrimination and production of the forms that carry out such functions. In the prosody function tasks, which are the most adaptive tasks for the communicative process, we found, as expected, significantly lower scores on the turn-end, chunking, and focus tasks in the group with DS. However, no significant between-group differences were found for the affect tasks. Participants with DS also had significantly lower scores on the prosodic form tasks than participants with other ID. The results of the comparison between prosodic perception and production skills showed that a generalization about a better profile in comprehension versus production is not possible and that there is a dependence on the demands of the prosodic task undertaken. The findings contribute to the ongoing development of the language profile of teenagers and young adults with DS and imply the need to design prosodic intervention programs based on their specific profile. What is already known on the subject Prosody is a fundamental element of language, and its mastery affects the effectiveness of communication. However, research on prosody in Down syndrome (DS) that offers a holistic view from a psycholinguistic approach is still scarce. To date, studies focused on providing a detailed profile of prosodic skills in individuals with DS have been mainly conducted with a few English-speaking children. These studies have shown that the comprehension and production of prosody is severely impaired, especially when considering affect and focus production, as well as the perception and production of prosodic forms. During childhood, greater efficacy is found in prosody comprehension than in prosody expression. What this study adds This is the first study analysing the prosodic profile of a large group of Spanish-speaking teenagers and young adults with DS. Poorer performance in the perception and production of both prosodic functions and forms was observed in participants with DS compared to participants with intellectual disability of unknown origin matched on chronological age and nonverbal cognition. Unlike what has been previously found in children, teenagers and young adults with DS performed at the same level as the control group on the understanding and expression of affect through prosodic cues. Results also showed that a generalization about a better prosody profile in comprehension versus production is not possible. What are the clinical implications of this work? This study provides new data on the prosodic skills of Spanish-speaking teenagers and young adults with DS. Given the impact of prosody on effective communication and the pattern of difficulties found in this study, speech and language therapists working with individuals with DS should consider including prosodic skills in interventions not only in childhood but also in adolescence and adulthood. Therefore, the prosodic profile of strengths and weaknesses in individuals with DS found in this research has direct implications for clinical practice.

Assessing processing speed and its neural correlates in the three variants of primary progressive aphasia with a non-verbal tablet-based task

Prior research has revealed distinctive patterns of impaired language abilities across the three variants of Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA): nonfluent/agrammatic (nfvPPA), logopenic (lvPPA) and semantic (svPPA). However, little is known about whether, and to what extent, non-verbal cognitive abilities, such as processing speed, are impacted in PPA patients. This is because neuropsychological tests typically contain linguistic stimuli and require spoken output, being therefore sensitive to verbal deficits in aphasic patients. The aim of this study is to investigate potential differences in processing speed between PPA patients and healthy controls, and among the three PPA variants, using a brief non-verbal tablet-based task (Match) modeled after the WAIS-III digit symbol coding test, and to determine its neural correlates. Here, we compared performance on the Match task between PPA patients (n = 61) and healthy controls (n = 59) and across the three PPA variants. We correlated performance on Match with voxelwise gray and white matter volumes. We found that lvPPA and nfvPPA patients performed significantly worse on Match than healthy controls and svPPA patients. Worse performance on Match across PPA patients was associated with reduced gray matter volume in specific parts of the left middle frontal gyrus, superior parietal lobule, and precuneus, and reduced white matter volume in the left parietal lobe. To conclude, our behavioral findings reveal that processing speed is differentially impacted across the three PPA variants and provide support for the potential clinical utility of a tabled-based task (Match) to assess non-verbal cognition. In addition, our neuroimaging findings confirm the importance of a set of fronto-parietal regions that previous research has associated with processing speed and executive control. Finally, our behavioral and neuroimaging findings combined indicate that differences in processing speed are largely explained by the unequal distribution of atrophy in these fronto-parietal regions across the three PPA variants.

33 Pre-Surgical Evaluation of Bilingual Epilepsy Patients; A Case Study Demonstrating the Importance of Bilingual Assessment

Objective:In the US, >20% of individuals aged 5 years and older speak a language other than English at home, with rates of bi- and multilingualism increasing. Providing linguistically- and culturally- competent care to increasingly diverse populations is a necessary task for neuropsychologists. The need for close attention to bilingualism is even more glaring in the context of neurosurgical interventions, such as in intractable epilepsy. Pre-surgical epilepsy evaluations serve as a baseline for post-surgical change, inform lateralization and localization, and help determine cognitive risks associated with surgery. The importance of evaluating bilingual status and assessing cognitive abilities in both languages, if needed, in presurgical epilepsy evaluations is examined. We present the neuropsychological profile of a 10-year-old bilingual male with intractable epilepsy participating in a pre-surgical epilepsy evaluation.Participants and Methods:This right-handed male is a sequential language learner, exposed to Spanish at birth and English when he began kindergarten. His parent reported he was primarily English speaking. Developmental milestones were met within expected timeframes. Seizures began at age 5. He is prescribed Vimpat and Lamictal. vEEG during admission revealed right temporal-onset seizures. Neuropsychological assessment was conducted in English based on parent report; however, expressive language testing revealed significantly higher performance in Spanish (average) compared to English (exceptionally low). Subsequently, a bilingual provider was consulted, and supplemental Spanish verbal reasoning and verbal memory measures were administered.Results:The patient’s neuropsychological profile captured a significant difference between English and Spanish verbal abilities. WISC-V Similarities scaled scores (ss) were 5 and 11 in English and Spanish, respectively. Vocabulary scaled scores were 8 and 15 in English and Spanish, respectively. Regarding verbal memory, list learning was below average in English (ss = 5), but low average in Spanish (ss = 6). Contextual verbal memory was only administered in Spanish; scores were average (ss = 10). Verbal Fluency administered in English was low (phonemic fluency ss = 5, categorical fluency ss = 6). fMRI verbal tasks were performed in English and revealed left-sided language lateralization.Conclusions:In pre-surgical epilepsy evaluations of bilingual children, consideration of language is essential. Assessment of language dominance is a minimum requirement in bilingual families, followed by full bilingual evaluation if necessary. In this case, starkly different conclusions regarding lateralization and localization may have been made if the child had not been evaluated in both languages. In English, a significant split between verbal and non-verbal cognition was apparent, possibly suggesting involvement of the dominant left hemisphere. With Spanish testing, this split disappeared, with high average verbal skills. While a growing proportion of children in the US are bilingual, bilingual assessments are not commonly conducted in pre-surgical epilepsy evaluations. In fact, very little work has been done examining language functioning in bilingual epilepsy patients, particularly in children. With both epilepsy-and language-related factors at play in a developing brain, we encourage closer attention to these issues, particularly in the context of neurosurgical procedures.

Structural equation modeling of female gait attractiveness using gait kinematics

In our social lives, movement’s attractiveness greatly affects interpersonal cognition, and gait kinematics mediates walkers’ attractiveness. However, no model using gait kinematics has so far predicted gait attractiveness. Thus, this study constructed models of female gait attractiveness with gait kinematics and physique factors as explanatory variables for both barefoot and high-heel walking. First, using motion capture data from 17 women walking, including seven professional runway models, we created gait animations. We also calculated the following gait kinematics as candidate variables to explain walking’s attractiveness: four body-silhouette-related variables and six health-related variables. Then, 60 observers evaluated each gait animation’s attractiveness and femininity. We performed correlation analysis between these variables and evaluation scores to obtain explanatory variables. Structural equation modeling suggested two models for gait attractiveness, one composed of trunk and head silhouette factors and the other of physique, trunk silhouette, and health-related gait factors. The study’s results deepened our understanding of mechanisms behind nonverbal interpersonal cognition through physical movement and brought us closer to realization of artificial generation of attractive gait motions.

Predictors of Emotional Prosody Identification by School-Age Children With Cochlear Implants and Their Peers With Normal Hearing.

Children with cochlear implants (CIs) vary widely in their ability to identify emotions in speech. The causes of this variability are unknown, but this knowledge will be crucial if we are to design improvements in technological or rehabilitative interventions that are effective for individual patients. The objective of this study was to investigate how well factors such as age at implantation, duration of device experience (hearing age), nonverbal cognition, vocabulary, and socioeconomic status predict prosody-based emotion identification in children with CIs, and how the key predictors in this population compare to children with normal hearing who are listening to either normal emotional speech or to degraded speech. We measured vocal emotion identification in 47 school-age CI recipients aged 7 to 19 years in a single-interval, 5-alternative forced-choice task. None of the participants had usable residual hearing based on parent/caregiver report. Stimuli consisted of a set of semantically emotion-neutral sentences that were recorded by 4 talkers in child-directed and adult-directed prosody corresponding to five emotions: neutral, angry, happy, sad, and scared. Twenty-one children with normal hearing were also tested in the same tasks; they listened to both original speech and to versions that had been noise-vocoded to simulate CI information processing. Group comparison confirmed the expected deficit in CI participants' emotion identification relative to participants with normal hearing. Within the CI group, increasing hearing age (correlated with developmental age) and nonverbal cognition outcomes predicted emotion recognition scores. Stimulus-related factors such as talker and emotional category also influenced performance and were involved in interactions with hearing age and cognition. Age at implantation was not predictive of emotion identification. Unlike the CI participants, neither cognitive status nor vocabulary predicted outcomes in participants with normal hearing, whether listening to original speech or CI-simulated speech. Age-related improvements in outcomes were similar in the two groups. Participants with normal hearing listening to original speech showed the greatest differences in their scores for different talkers and emotions. Participants with normal hearing listening to CI-simulated speech showed significant deficits compared with their performance with original speech materials, and their scores also showed the least effect of talker- and emotion-based variability. CI participants showed more variation in their scores with different talkers and emotions than participants with normal hearing listening to CI-simulated speech, but less so than participants with normal hearing listening to original speech. Taken together, these results confirm previous findings that pediatric CI recipients have deficits in emotion identification based on prosodic cues, but they improve with age and experience at a rate that is similar to peers with normal hearing. Unlike participants with normal hearing, nonverbal cognition played a significant role in CI listeners' emotion identification. Specifically, nonverbal cognition predicted the extent to which individual CI users could benefit from some talkers being more expressive of emotions than others, and this effect was greater in CI users who had less experience with their device (or were younger) than CI users who had more experience with their device (or were older). Thus, in young prelingually deaf children with CIs performing an emotional prosody identification task, cognitive resources may be harnessed to a greater degree than in older prelingually deaf children with CIs or than children with normal hearing.

Narrative abilities in individuals with Down syndrome: single case-profiles.

Narrative abilities are an important part of our everyday lives and social interaction with others. Nevertheless, narration is a complex ability influenced by language and cognition. This makes it difficult for individuals with language and cognitive impairment, such as in children and adolescents with Down syndrome. Previous studies have shown distinct narrative impairments in individuals with Down syndrome; nevertheless, this research was based on overall group means in most cases. To identify individual strengths and weaknesses and to draw conclusions for speech and language therapy, the narrative profile of every participant should be considered equally. Following this approach, the current study aims to describe single case narrative profiles in individuals with Down syndrome. The narrative transcripts of 28 children and adolescents with Down syndrome (aged 10;0-20;1), based on a non-verbal picture book, were rated using the Narrative Scoring Scheme across seven macro- and microstructural categories. Point scores across the whole group are displayed - nevertheless, the paper specifically addresses the individual narrative profiles of the participants. The participants could be assigned to narrative profile groups which show different characteristics, strengths and weaknesses. Group comparisons and correlations were computed for the relation to language abilities (especially vocabulary) and nonverbal cognitive abilities. The results of the two profile groups with minimal and developing narrative skills differ significantly not only concerning narrative outcomes in the Narrative Scoring Scheme but also for language abilities and developmental stage of nonverbal cognition. Individuals that show floor effects in narrative abilities are characterized by an overall weakness in language and cognition. In contrast, a group of approximately equal size shows distinct strengths in their narrative profiles which are in line with their vocabulary strengths, MLU and nonverbal cognition. The current study uses a new approach to identify individual narrative profiles in a group of individuals with Down syndrome. The results of the investigation underline the existence of narrative impairments in many individuals with Down syndrome but also point to individual strengths of the participants. Furthermore, the study outcomes suggest that narrative abilities might be representative for overall language and cognition in individuals with Down syndrome. However, intervention studies addressing narration are missing.

What does bilingual experience do to music processing in the brain?

The relationship between language and music in the brain has constantly been a topic of discussion. Understanding how and to what extent music and language experiences influence cortical dynamics for brain functions (e.g., music and speech processing) will open a crucial door to treat a myriad of neurological conditions with an auditory or language base. Bilingual experience affects nonverbal cognition, and the neural coding of pitch is shaped by language experience in the adult population. However, it is not clear whether and how different bilingual development affects music processing differently. The purpose of this study was to determine whether different early bilingual language experience modulates cortical sensitivity to music features. Participants were exposed to varying musical phrases. The electroencephalograms (EEGs)/event-related potentials (ERPs) where recorded during changes in musical features. The ERPs were compared among bilingual English-Mandarin and bilingual English-Spanish pre-adolescents and adolescents. Preliminary results suggested that bilingual teenagers with English-Mandarin backgrounds showed larger mismatch negativity responses to some, but not all six types of music changes than the bilingual teenagers with English-Spanish backgrounds. Bilingual experience modulates music process and different bilingual experiences influence music processing differently.

Measuring nonverbal cognition in toddlers with autism spectrum disorder

Measuring nonverbal cognition in toddlers with autism spectrum disorder

Pragmatic language and associations with externalizing behaviors in autistic individuals and those who have lost the autism diagnosis

BackgroundPragmatic language weaknesses, a core feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), are implicated in externalizing behavior disorders (Gremillion & Martel, 2014). Particularly in a clinical setting, these co-occurring externalizing disorders are very common in autism; rates of Attentional Deficit-Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) are as high as 83% (ADHD) and 73% (ODD; Joshi et al., 2010). It is possible that pragmatic language weaknesses impact the ability to effectively communicate one’s needs, which may lead autistic children to utilize externalizing behaviors in order to achieve a desired outcome (Ketelaars et al., 2010; Rodas et al., 2017). MethodsThe aim of the current study is to investigate the relationship between pragmatic language, assessed via multiple modalities, and externalizing behaviors, assessed by parent interview, in youth with autistic (n = 33) or neurotypical (NT; n = 34) developmental histories, along with youth diagnosed with autism, who lost the diagnosis (LAD) by adolescence (n = 31). ResultsThe autism group had significantly more pragmatic language difficulties, and more externalizing behaviors and disorders; ADHD symptoms were particularly more prevalent, while LAD and NT groups did not differ. Challenges in pragmatic language abilities were associated with more externalizing symptoms when controlling for other facts that typically influence such symptoms, including nonverbal cognition, structural language, executive functioning, and autistic characteristics, but did not remain when age was included in the model. ConclusionsWe discuss the mechanisms underlying difficult-to-manage externalizing behaviors and implications for interventions and long-term outcomes for youth with and without a history of autism.

Assessing structural language skills of autistic adults: Focus on sentence repetition

Although autism is a life-long disorder, there is limited data on structural language abilities in adults, and a lack of language tools appropriate for this population. This study investigates the relevance of a sentence repetition (SR) task for assessing morphosyntactic abilities in autistic adults. The so-called LITMUS-SR-FR(ench)-Adults is an adaptation of a child SR task shown to be efficient for identifying language impairment in autistic children. It consists of sentences divided into six structures and structure subtypes created by manipulating ingredients of syntactic complexity (e.g., embedding and syntactic movement). The task was administered to 39 French-speaking autistic individuals aged 18–56 years, with ranging intellectual abilities, and 41 age-matched control participants. Performance on identical repetition was characterized by higher variability in the autistic group than in the control group, and it distinguished autistic adults with language difficulties from those without language difficulties on all structure types and subtypes. Error analysis showed that autistic adults with language difficulties were sensitive to syntactic complexity, revealing group specificities. Performance was explained neither by nonverbal cognition nor by autism severity, indicating possible independence of structural language from both variables. Our findings support the appropriateness of LITMUS-SR-FR-Adults for assessing structural language in autistic adults and contribute to document the variability in their morphosyntactic skills.