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Frontiers in Psychology 2023
PubMed: 37901079
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1266220 -
Ugeskrift For Laeger Apr 2024Ankyloglossia or tongue-tie is a condition where the anatomical variation of the sublingual frenulum can limit normal tongue function. In Denmark, as in other countries,... (Review)
Review
Ankyloglossia or tongue-tie is a condition where the anatomical variation of the sublingual frenulum can limit normal tongue function. In Denmark, as in other countries, an increase in the number of children treated for ankyloglossia has been described over the past years. Whether or not ankyloglossia and its release affect the speech has also been increasingly discussed on Danish television and social media. In this review, the possible connection between ankyloglossia, its surgical treatment, and speech development in children is discussed.
Topics: Humans; Ankyloglossia; Child; Language Development; Tongue; Lingual Frenum; Speech; Infant
PubMed: 38704717
DOI: 10.61409/V11230699 -
Proceedings of the National Academy of... Aug 2023Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has a complex genetic architecture involving contributions from both de novo and inherited variation. Few studies have been designed to...
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has a complex genetic architecture involving contributions from both de novo and inherited variation. Few studies have been designed to address the role of rare inherited variation or its interaction with common polygenic risk in ASD. Here, we performed whole-genome sequencing of the largest cohort of multiplex families to date, consisting of 4,551 individuals in 1,004 families having two or more autistic children. Using this study design, we identify seven previously unrecognized ASD risk genes supported by a majority of rare inherited variants, finding support for a total of 74 genes in our cohort and a total of 152 genes after combined analysis with other studies. Autistic children from multiplex families demonstrate an increased burden of rare inherited protein-truncating variants in known ASD risk genes. We also find that ASD polygenic score (PGS) is overtransmitted from nonautistic parents to autistic children who also harbor rare inherited variants, consistent with combinatorial effects in the offspring, which may explain the reduced penetrance of these rare variants in parents. We also observe that in addition to social dysfunction, language delay is associated with ASD PGS overtransmission. These results are consistent with an additive complex genetic risk architecture of ASD involving rare and common variation and further suggest that language delay is a core biological feature of ASD.
Topics: Child; Humans; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Multifactorial Inheritance; Parents; Whole Genome Sequencing; Language Development Disorders; Genetic Predisposition to Disease
PubMed: 37506195
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2215632120 -
Frontiers in Pediatrics 2023The effect of prenatal cannabis exposure (PCE) on childhood neurodevelopment remains poorly understood. There is a paucity of studies describing the neurodevelopment...
INTRODUCTION
The effect of prenatal cannabis exposure (PCE) on childhood neurodevelopment remains poorly understood. There is a paucity of studies describing the neurodevelopment impact of PCE in infancy. The Mullen Scale of Early Learning (MSEL) is a cognitive screening tool that can be used from birth to 68 months and includes language and motor domains. Here we aim to explore the association between PCE during pregnancy and neurodevelopmental outcomes at 12 months of age.
METHODS
Participants were pregnant persons/infant pairs enrolled in The Safe Passage Study, a large prospective cohort study. Inclusion criteria included data available on PCE with associated MSEL scores at 12 months of age. Exposed participants were defined as early exposure (1st trimester only) or late exposure (2nd or 3rd trimester) and were randomly matched with unexposed participants. Multiple linear regression models were performed to test associations between prenatal cannabis exposure and the five Mullen subscales: gross motor, fine motor, expressive language, receptive language, and visual reception.
RESULTS
Sixty-nine exposed and 138 randomly matched unexposed infants were included in the analyses. Mothers of children with PCE were younger with the mean age 23.7 years for early exposure ( = 51) and 22.8 years for late exposure ( = 18). Maternal characteristics with prenatal cannabis use include a high-school education, American Indian or Alaska Native descent, lower socioeconomic status and co-use of tobacco. There were no gestational age or sex difference among the groups. Expressive (95% CI: 2.54-12.76; = 0.0036,) and receptive language scores (95% CI: 0.39-8.72; = 0.0322) were significantly increased between late-exposed infants compared to unexposed infants following adjustment for covariates. Gross motor scores (95% CI: 1.75-13; = 0.0105) were also significantly increased for early-exposed infants with no difference in visual reception scores.
CONCLUSION
Preclinical studies have shown abnormal brain connectivity in offspring exposed to cannabis affecting emotional regulation, hyperactivity, and language development. Results from this study link PCE to altered early language development within the first year of life. Exposed infants demonstrated increased expressive and receptive language scores at 12 months of age, which can translate to better performance in school. However, further research is needed to determine the implications of these results later in childhood.
PubMed: 38078314
DOI: 10.3389/fped.2023.1290707 -
Journal of Child Language Jul 2023Paradis' keynote article provides a comprehensive overview of factors influencing bilingual children's dual language abilities. It includes the 'usual suspects', such as... (Review)
Review
Paradis' keynote article provides a comprehensive overview of factors influencing bilingual children's dual language abilities. It includes the 'usual suspects', such as input quantity, and also highlights areas requiring further investigation, such as cognitive abilities. As such, it will no doubt serve as a valuable basis for the field as we move forward. Paradis quite rightly points out that whilst some of these factors may be unidirectionally related to language abilities, suggesting causality, for many others such relations are bi- or multidirectional and as such, caution is required in interpreting them. In order to pinpoint the nature and direction of these relations (currently absent from Figure 1 in the keynote), more complex analytic techniques are needed, as Paradis herself notes: "The relations among attitudes/identity, input and interaction, and perhaps social adjustment and wellbeing, are likely to be complex; therefore, more complex analytic techniques are needed to understand the path(s) between family attitudes about the HL on one hand, and children's HL outcomes on the other." (Paradis, 2023: 19). In this commentary, we provide an illustration of how the complex relationships between the variables discussed in Paradis's keynote article could be conceptualised within a causal inference approach. We offer a modest starting point by summarising key features of causal inference modelling and by illustrating how it might help us better understand what causes what.
Topics: Child; Humans; Multilingualism; Language Development; Cognition; Causality
PubMed: 36999749
DOI: 10.1017/S0305000923000107 -
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews Oct 2023Language profiles in autism are variable and atypical, with frequent speech onset delays, but also, in some cases, unusually steep growth of structural language skills.... (Review)
Review
Language profiles in autism are variable and atypical, with frequent speech onset delays, but also, in some cases, unusually steep growth of structural language skills. Joint attention is often seen as a major predictor of language in autism, even though low joint attention is a core characteristic of autism, independent of language levels. In this systematic review of 71 studies, we ask whether, in autism, joint attention predicts advanced or only early language skills, and whether it may be independent of language outcomes. We consider only conservative estimates, and flag studies that include heterogenous samples or no control for non-verbal cognition. Our review suggests that joint attention plays a pivotal role for the emergence of language, but is also consistent with the idea that some autistic children may acquire language independently of joint attention skills. We propose that language in autism should not necessarily be modelled as a quantitative or chronological deviation from typical language development, and outline directions to bring autistic individuals' atypicality within the focus of scientific inquiry.
PubMed: 37683987
DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105384 -
The Journal of Neuroscience : the... Jun 2023The language environment to which children are exposed has an impact on later language abilities as well as on brain development; however, it is unclear how early such...
The language environment to which children are exposed has an impact on later language abilities as well as on brain development; however, it is unclear how early such impacts emerge. This study investigates the effects of children's early language environment and socioeconomic status (SES) on brain structure in infancy at 6 and 30 months of age (both sexes included). We used magnetic resonance imaging to quantify concentrations of myelin in specific fiber tracts in the brain. Our central question was whether Language Environment Analysis (LENA) measures from in-home recording devices and SES measures of maternal education predicted myelin concentrations over the course of development. Results indicate that 30-month-old children exposed to larger amounts of in-home adult input showed more myelination in the white matter tracts most associated with language. Right hemisphere regions also show an association with SES, with older children from more highly educated mothers and exposed to more adult input, showing greater myelin concentrations in language-related areas. We discuss these results in relation to the current literature and implications for future research. This is the first study to look at how brain myelination is impacted by language input and socioeconomic status early in development. We find robust relationships of both factors in language-related brain areas at 30 months of age.
Topics: Child; Male; Female; Adult; Humans; Adolescent; Child, Preschool; Language; Brain; Social Class; Language Development; Magnetic Resonance Imaging
PubMed: 37188518
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1034-22.2023 -
Journal of Communication Disorders 2023There is an emerging view that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is marked by problems with language difficulties, an idea reinforced by the fact that ADHD... (Review)
Review
PURPOSE
There is an emerging view that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is marked by problems with language difficulties, an idea reinforced by the fact that ADHD is highly comorbid with developmental language disorder (DLD). This scoping review provides an overview of literature on language abilities in children with DLD and ADHD while highlighting similarities and differences.
METHOD
A comprehensive search was performed to examine the literature on language abilities in the two disorders, yielding a total of 18 articles that met the inclusion criteria for the present review. Qualitative summaries are provided based on the language domain assessed.
RESULTS
The current literature suggests children and adolescents with ADHD have better morphosyntax/grammar, general/core language abilities, receptive, and expressive abilities than those with DLD. Further, that performance is comparable on assessments of semantic and figurative language but varies by sample on assessments of phonological processing, syntax, narrative language, and vocabulary.
CONCLUSION
Evidence presented points to children and adolescents with DLD as having greater language difficulties compared to those with ADHD, but with some important caveats. Despite limitations related to the paucity of studies and inconsistencies in how the two types of disorders are identified, our review provides a necessary and vital step in better understanding the language profiles of these two highly prevalent childhood disorders. These findings are useful in optimizing language outcomes and treatment efficacy for children and adolescents with ADHD and DLD.
Topics: Humans; Child; Adolescent; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity; Cognition; Linguistics; Vocabulary; Language Development Disorders
PubMed: 37797400
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2023.106381 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2023The present study aimed to (1) characterize the home-literacy environments (HLE) of toddlers with Down syndrome (DS) and (2) examine if richness of the HLE, child...
INTRODUCTION
The present study aimed to (1) characterize the home-literacy environments (HLE) of toddlers with Down syndrome (DS) and (2) examine if richness of the HLE, child engagement during shared storybook reading activities, quality of a caregiver-child shared storybook reading activity, and exposure to language in the home environment predicted child receptive vocabulary concurrently (Time 1) and 6 months later (Time 2).
METHODS
Participants were toddlers with DS ( = 13 at Time 1, 11-29 months of age; = 10 at Time 2) and their mothers. Mothers completed a at Time 1, which was used to characterize the HLE and to calculate two composite variables: richness of the HLE and child engagement in shared storybook reading. Also at Time 1, the home language environment was measured using adult word count from the LENA Recorder DLP©. The LENA was also used to audio-record and capture the quality of a caregiver-child storybook reading task in the child's home using the book . At both time points, mothers completed the , and the number of words understood variable was used to measure receptive vocabulary.
RESULTS/DISCUSSION
Results indicated that toddlers with DS experience rich HLEs and interactive shared storybook reading encounters with their mothers. A multiple linear regression revealed that child engagement and the home language environment correlated with both toddlers' concurrent and later receptive vocabularies, while the richness of the HLE and the shared storybook reading task emerged as moderate predictors of receptive vocabulary 6 months later.
PubMed: 37457096
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1143369 -
Heliyon Aug 2023The statistical account of language acquisition asserts that language is learned through computations on the statistical regularities present in natural languages. This... (Review)
Review
The statistical account of language acquisition asserts that language is learned through computations on the statistical regularities present in natural languages. This type of account can predict variability in language development measures as arising from individual differences in extracting this statistical information. Given that statistical learning has been attested across different domains and modalities, a central question is which modality is more tightly yoked with language skills. The results of a scoping review, which aimed for the first time at identifying the evidence of the association between statistical learning skills and language outcomes in typically developing infants and children, provide preliminary support for the statistical learning account of language acquisition, mostly in the domain of lexical outcomes, indicating that typically developing infants and children with stronger auditory and audio-visual statistical learning skills perform better on lexical competence tasks. The results also suggest that the relevance of statistical learning skills for language development is dependent on sensory modality.
PubMed: 37554804
DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e18693