|
|
It has been suggested that children with developmental language disorder (DLD) do not characterize a distinct clinical population, and instead represent the low normal language users in a typical population. However, recent studies indicate that the neural indices of language processing in individuals with DLD diverge from their typical peers, even when behavior falls within the normal range. Changes in hemoglobin across the prefrontal cortex was recorded using functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Standardized z-scores of hemodynamic response for adults with DLD and a low performing normal language control (NL) showed abnormal response for each participant, with DLD response characterized by overactivation, and NL response characterized by underactivation. Additionally, channel-wise correlations revealed the NL control had high correlation across the channels for both high- and low-frequency words, whereas this pattern was not found in the participants with DLD. These findings indicate young adults with DLD are distinct from their low performing typical language peers and represent a clinically distinct population. This project was funded by the University of Texas STARS award (Evans, PI). |
|