Semantic learning deficits in school age children with developmental language disorder

项目摘要 语义知识，或对一个词的意义的知识，与阅读理解和长期阅读有很强的联系。 学期的学术成果，特别是在学年。发育性语言障碍儿童 (DLD)在没有任何因果因素的情况下，语言障碍往往表现出语义知识的缺陷， 和收购。人们普遍认为，这些赤字是由于难以增加 意思是一个新的单词与反复接触的话，或配置。未知的是 构成缺陷的基础，以及这些缺陷是否在DLD特征中变化。这个目标 项目的目的是阐明DLD的语义学习缺陷。为了实现这一目标，该项目使用了一个组合 脑电图（EEG）-行为方法检查认知和语言过程的方法 在有和没有DLD的学龄儿童中进行语义学习。纳入EEG将允许 用于实时检查语义学习以及相关的认知和语言过程。10-12岁 有和没有DLD的老年儿童将完成行为评估和语义学习任务 同时收集他们的脑电图行为数据将被分析为语义学习组的差异（目标1） 以及当孩子们无法提取正确的含义时所犯的错误类型（目标2）。EEG 将以两种方式分析数据。事件相关电位（ERP）分析将检查 语义处理，由N400索引，在学习过程中（目标1）。EEG的时频分析将 检查与词汇提取（theta）和注意/抑制相关的神经过程的参与 （alpha）在学习过程中（目标1）。行为和脑电图方法将结合起来，以检查个人 与语义学习结果相关的差异和N400学习效果的细粒度差异 （目标2）。这些研究结果将有助于我们理解语义学习的本质 DLD学龄儿童的缺陷。这种理解是有针对性的干预的先决条件， 会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.