Relevance of auditory cortical maturation to early language acquisition

听觉皮层成熟与早期语言习得的相关性

• 批准号: RGPIN-2018-05655
• 负责人: OramCardy, Janis
• 金额: $ 2.91万
• 依托单位: University of Western Ontario
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=749594
• 关键词: Relevance; auditory; cortical; maturation; early

My lab studies sound processing in children's brains and how this relates to their spoken language development. We know that children of the same age vary in their language skills. By measuring auditory-evoked potentials (AEPs) with electroencephalography, we have learned that children of the same age also vary in their brain responses to sounds, and that the sophistication of these two abilities (auditory processing and language) is somehow related. Prior research has led many in the field to assume that the brain's ability to process sounds causally influences how children learn language. However, research has yet to confirm this assumed direction of influence. Instead, it is possible that more sophisticated sound processing in the brain is a consequence of the child's growing experience with language, and that our prior assumptions have been wrong. In this new research program, I will longitudinally examine directions of influence between auditory and language sophistication during early language acquisition. To do this, my trainees and I will use a metric that we validated and linked to language with my prior NSERC funding. This metric is AEP-age, which is an estimate of the age equivalent of a child's brain response to sound. This metric has an advantage over traditional approaches because it can be acquired with minimal participation, in 5 minutes, in response to a simple tone, and via an analysis approach that does not require identifying individual peaks in the auditory brainwave. This last advantage is key because it can be challenging to compare children across this age range since these peaks can vary in shape, size, direction, and presence across children. Using this metric, we will gather normative AEPs from groups of children aged 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, 48 and 62 months to estimate the AEP-age of individual children's responses. Then we will track changes in both AEP-age and language ability in a group of 18 month olds until they reach 48 months. This will allow us to examine directions of influence between these two processes over a longitudinal period. To enhance this examination, we will not only study children showing typical language development but also late-talkers who catch up, and those with persistent delays. Understanding the direction of influence matters. If auditory sophistication indeed impacts language sophistication, we would be justified in dedicating future research efforts to better understanding the factors that influence auditory maturation in the brain (such as environmental exposures and genetics), the timing of these influences, and whether manipulating them (when possible) could impact language development. If AEP-age shows promise in predicting the trajectory of early language acquisition, future research could examine clinical translation into predicting which children are at risk for later problems in language development even before they begin talking.

我的实验室研究儿童大脑的声音处理及其与口语发展的关系。我们知道，同龄儿童的语言能力存在差异。通过脑电图测量听觉诱发电位（AEP），我们了解到，同龄儿童的大脑对声音的反应也有所不同，并且这两种能力（听觉处理和语言）的复杂程度在某种程度上是相关的。先前的研究使该领域的许多人认为大脑处理声音的能力会因果影响儿童学习语言的方式。然而，研究尚未证实这种假设的影响方向。相反，大脑中更复杂的声音处理可能是孩子不断增长的语言经验的结果，而我们之前的假设是错误的。 在这个新的研究项目中，我将纵向研究早期语言习得过程中听觉和语言复杂性之间的影响方向。为此，我和我的学员将使用我们之前通过 NSERC 资助验证并与语言相关联的指标。该指标是 AEP 年龄，它是对儿童大脑对声音反应的年龄的估计。该指标比传统方法具有优势，因为它可以在 5 分钟内以最少的参与、响应简单的音调并通过不需要识别听觉脑电波中的各个峰值的分析方法来获取。最后一个优势是关键，因为比较这个年龄段的儿童可能具有挑战性，因为这些峰值的形状、大小、方向和存在情况在不同儿童中可能有所不同。使用此指标，我们将从 12、18、24、30、36、48 和 62 个月的儿童群体中收集规范 AEP，以估计个别儿童的反应的 AEP 年龄。然后，我们将跟踪一组 18 个月大的孩子的 AEP 年龄和语言能力的变化，直到他们年满 48 个月。这将使我们能够检查这两个过程在一段时间内的影响方向。为了加强这项检查，我们不仅要研究表现出典型语言发展的儿童，还要研究那些赶上的迟到的人和那些持续迟缓的人。了解影响的方向很重要。如果听觉的复杂性确实会影响语言的复杂性，那么我们就有理由致力于未来的研究工作，以更好地理解影响大脑听觉成熟的因素（例如环境暴露和遗传）、这些影响的时间安排，以及操纵它们（如果可能）是否会影响语言的发展。如果 AEP 年龄在预测早期语言习得轨迹方面显示出希望，那么未来的研究可以通过临床转化来预测哪些儿童甚至在开始说话之前就面临后期语言发展问题的风险。