Semantic learning deficits in school age children with developmental language disorder

项目摘要 语义知识，或对一个单词的意义的知识，与阅读理解和长期阅读有很强的联系。 学期学业成绩，特别是在学年。发育性语言障碍儿童 语言障碍(DLD)是一种没有任何原因的语言障碍，通常表现为语义知识的缺失 和收购。人们普遍认为，这些赤字是由加法过程中的困难驱动的 意思是指反复接触到一个单词或构型的新词。未知的是什么 基础是配置方面的缺陷，以及这些缺陷在DLD配置文件中是否有所不同。这样做的目的是 本研究的目的是阐明学习困难儿童的语义学习缺陷。为了实现这一目标，该项目使用了一种组合的 脑电(EEG)--检查认知和语言过程的行为方法 有无学习障碍的学龄儿童在语义学习过程中参与学习。脑电波的纳入将使 用于实时检查语义学习以及相关的认知和语言过程。10-12年 患有和不患有DLD的老年儿童将完成一组行为评估和语义学习任务 同时收集他们的脑电。将分析行为数据以了解语义学习组的差异(目标1) 以及儿童在无法提取正确含义时所犯的错误类型(目标2)。脑电 数据将以两种方式进行分析。事件相关电位(ERP)分析将检查 学习期间的语义处理，由N400编入索引(目标1)。脑电信号的时频分析 考察与词汇提取(Theta)和注意/抑制相关的神经过程的参与 (阿尔法)在学习中(目标1)。行为和脑电方法将结合起来检查个人 与语义学习结果相关的差异和N400学习效果的细粒度差异 分组(目标2)。综上所述，这些发现将有助于我们理解语义学习的本质 学龄儿童DLD的缺陷。这一理解是进行有针对性干预的先决条件 将帮助这些孩子学会如何学习。

Project Summary Semantic knowledge, or knowledge of a word’s meaning, has strong ties to reading comprehension and long- term academic outcomes, particularly in the school years. Children with developmental language disorder (DLD), language impairment in the absence of any causal factors, often show deficits in semantic knowledge and acquisition. It is generally accepted that these deficits are driven by difficulty with the process of adding meaning to a new word with repeated exposures to the word, or configuration. What is unknown is what underlies deficits in configuration and whether these deficits vary across the DLD profile. The goal of this project is to elucidate the semantic learning deficits in DLD. Toward this goal, this project uses a combined electroencephalogram (EEG) - behavioral methods approach to examine the cognitive and linguistic processes engaged during semantic learning in school-age children with and without DLD. The inclusion of EEG will allow for a real-time examination of semantic learning and associated cognitive and linguistic processes. 10-12 year old children with and without DLD will complete a behavioral assessment battery and semantic learning task while their EEG is collected. Behavioral data will be analyzed for semantic learning group differences (Aim 1) and the types of errors that children make when they are unable to retrieve a correct meaning (Aim 2). EEG data will be analyzed in two ways. The event-related potential (ERP) analysis will examine changes in semantic processing, indexed by the N400, during learning (Aim 1). Time frequency analysis of the EEG will examine the engagement of neural processes associated with lexical retrieval (theta) and attention/inhibition (alpha) during learning (Aim 1). Behavioral and EEG methods will be combined to examine individual differences related to semantic learning outcomes and fine-grained differences in N400 learning effects across groups (Aim 2). Taken together, findings will inform our understanding of the nature of the semantic learning deficits in school-aged children with DLD. This understanding is prerequisite for targeted intervention that would help these children learn how to learn.