Rhythm in Atypical Language Development: Mechanisms and Individual Differences

 描述(由申请者提供)：为了理解言语并最终发展交际语言技能，幼儿必须分割和分析复杂的声音信号。最近的理论研究表明，语音信号中的节奏变化通过激发神经振荡并将注意力引导到特定的时刻，如短语边界，来促进语言习得。特别是，我们的初步工作表明，在典型的发育儿童中，音乐节奏和语法技能之间存在很强的关联。建议的R03将这项工作扩展到患有特定语言障碍(SLI)的儿童，SLI是一种影响美国7%幼儿的障碍。调查这一人群中的节奏缺陷，并确定这些儿童的节奏技能在多大程度上可以预测他们在语法和单词学习方面的语言困难。因此，这个项目的长期目标是通过区分音乐和语音节奏技能与语言发展紊乱的其他已知因素，以及阐明节奏缺陷可能阻碍语言发展的神经和认知机制，来识别预测语言习得结果的节奏敏感度的个体差异。这份R03提案采用了个体差异的方法作为实现这一目标的第一步，使用了从儿童语言发展、认知神经科学和统计建模中提取的原始方法组合。资助的目标1a和1b将区分言语节奏、音乐节奏和听觉工作记忆对具有广泛语法能力的儿童语法技能的各自贡献，此外还将研究节奏敏感性在语法技能中的作用 SLI表型。目标2将研究节奏敏感度作为预测SLI儿童分割语音信号和学习单词形式能力的指标。这个项目的影响是更好地理解节奏感知如何有助于SLI儿童面临的重大语法和单词学习挑战，为未来将节奏纳入SLI临床方法的翻译研究奠定基础。这些发现有望为未来的纵向工作奠定重要的基础，这些工作将测试节奏在预测语言结果方面的作用，包括：对隐含操纵韵律的治疗的反应，节奏训练/节奏技能对语法发展和单词学习的因果影响，以及利用节奏敏感性来帮助区分说话迟缓的儿童和将发展成SLI的儿童。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): To understand speech and eventually develop communicative language skills, young children must segment and parse a complex acoustic signal. Recent theoretical accounts propose that rhythmic variations in the speech signal facilitate language acquisition by entraining neural oscillations and directing attention to specifc moments in time, such as phrase boundaries. In particular, our preliminary work shows a strong association between musical rhythm and grammar skills in typically developing children. The proposed R03 extends this work to children with Specific language impairment (SLI, a disorder which affects 7% of young children in the U.S.) to investigate rhythm deficits in this population and determine to what extent rhythm skills in these children are predictive of their language difficulties in grammar and word learning. Thus the long-term goal of this project is to identify individual differences in rhythm sensitivity that predict language acquisition outcomes, by differentiating musical and speech rhythm skills from other known factors in disordered language development, as well as illuminating the neural and cognitive mechanisms by which rhythm deficits may impede language development. This R03 proposal employs an individual differences approach as the first step towards this goal, using an original combination of methodologies drawn from child language development, cognitive neuroscience, and statistical modeling. Aims 1a and 1b of the grant will differentiate the respective contributions of speech rhythm, musical rhythm, and auditory working memory to grammar skills in children that have a wide range of grammatical abilities, in addition to investigating the role of rhythm sensitivity in SLI phenotype. Aim 2 will investigate rhythm sensitivity as a predictor in the ability of children with SLI to segment the speech signal and learn word forms. The impact of this project is a better understanding of how rhythm perception contributes to significant grammar and word learning challenges faced by children with SLI, setting the foundation for future translational research directed toward incorporating rhythm in clinical approaches to SLI. These findings are expected to lay important groundwork for future longitudinal work that will test the utility of rhythm in predicting language outcomes, including the following: response to treatments that implicitly manipulate prosody, a causal influence of rhythm training/rhythm skills on grammatical development and word learning, and utilization of rhythm sensitivity to help discern which late-talking children will resolve from those who will develop SLI.