Neuromaturation of auditory integration and its relation to language development

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Human sound processing relies on the auditory system's ability to integrate information over time. The acoustic signal changes continuously, but there is a window over which acoustic energy is "chunked" to form the sound we perceive. The smaller this window of integration, the better the resolution of the signal. When perceiving speech, it is possible that a larger window limits the quality of the linguistic input, thus impacting language development. What remains unknown is whether auditory integration is specifically related to language development. This Discovery Grant will fund Dr. Janis Oram Cardy and her research team at the University of Western Ontario as they use event-related brain potentials (ERP) to examine the specific relation between auditory integration and language development in children. Specific objectives are: 1) to study how auditory integration changes with age and relates to language and cognitive functioning, 2) to determine if directly recording children's brain responses yields different information about auditory integration than having them complete a computer task, and 3) to determine if children with impaired language development show a pattern of immature auditory integration. In Project 1, 180 children ranging in age from 4 to 9 years will be tested over three years. Each year, their language, thinking and speed of processing will be measured, along with their brain responses to rapid sounds. In Project 2, 60 children who have either a developmental problem that includes impaired language development or a developmental problem without language impairment will complete similar tests. This research will enrich our understanding of normal and abnormal brain activity underlying language development and disorders, and of how higher-level cognitive processes such as language interact with lower-level auditory and speech processing. Ultimately, this work will further our understanding of the contributors to the fascinating and complex process that is language development.