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Language Disorders (language + disorders)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	58%
Humanities and Social Sciences	16%

Selected Abstracts

Severe falciparum malaria and acquired childhood language disorder

DEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE & CHILD NEUROLOGY, Issue 1 2006
Julie A Carter BSc (Hons) MSc PhD
Language disorders have been reported after severe falciparum malaria but the deficits have not been described in detail. We assessed language outcome in three groups of children aged 6 to 9 years (n=487): those previously admitted to Kilifi District Hospital, Kenya, with cerebral malaria (CM; n=152; mean age 7y 4 mo [SD 1y 1mo]; 77 males, 75 females); or those with malaria and complicated seizures (M/S; n=156; mean age 7y 4mo [SD 1y 2mo]; 72 males, 84 females); and those unexposed to either condition (n=179; mean age 7y 6mo [SD 1y 1mo]; 93 males, 86 females). Median age at hospital admission was 28 months (interquartile range [IQR] 19 to 44 mo) among children with a history of CM and 23 months (IQR 12 to 35mo) among children with a history of M/S. A battery of eight assessments covering the major facets of speech and language was used to measure language performance. Cognitive performance, neurological/motor skills, behaviour, hearing, and vision were also measured. Eighteen (11.8%) of the CM group, 14 (9%) of the M/S group, and four (2.2%) of the unexposed group were found to have a language impairment. CM (odds ratio 3.68,95% confidence interval 1.09 to 12.4, p=0.04) was associated with significantly increased odds of an impairment-level score relative to the unexposed group. The results suggest that falciparum malaria is one of the most common causes of acquired language disorders in the tropics. [source]

The cognitive phenotype in Klinefelter syndrome: A review of the literature including genetic and hormonal factors

DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES RESEARCH REVIEW, Issue 4 2009
Richard Boada
Abstract Klinefelter syndrome (KS) or 47,XXY occurs in ,1 in 650 males. Individuals with KS often present with physical characteristics including tall stature, hypogonadism, and fertility problems. In addition to medical findings, the presence of the extra X chromosome can lead to characteristic cognitive and language deficits of varying severity. While a small, but significant downward shift in mean overall IQ has been reported, the general cognitive abilities of patients with KS are not typically in the intellectual disability range. Most studies support that males with KS have an increased risk of language disorders and reading disabilities. Results of other studies investigating the relationship between verbal and nonverbal/spatial cognitive abilities have been mixed, with differing results based on the age and ascertainment method of the cohort studied. Executive function deficits have been identified in children and adults with KS, however, the research in this area is limited and further investigation of the neuropsychological profile is needed. In this article, we review the strengths and weaknesses of previous cognitive and neuropsychological studies in males with KS in childhood and adulthood, provide historical perspective of these studies, and review what is known about how hormonal and genetic factors influence cognitive features in 47,XXY/KS. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Dev Disabil Res Rev 2009;15:284,294. [source]

Outcome of severe unilateral cerebellar hypoplasia

DEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE & CHILD NEUROLOGY, Issue 8 2010
ANDREA PORETTI
Aim, Complete or subtotal absence of one cerebellar hemisphere is exceptional; only single cases have been described. We aimed to assess the long-term outcome in children with severe unilateral cerebellar hypoplasia (UCH). Method, As part of a retrospective study we describe neuroimaging features, clinical findings, and cognitive outcomes of seven children with UCH (five males, two females; age at first magnetic resonance imaging [MRI]: median 1y 3mo, range 9d,8y 10mo; age at latest follow-up: median 6y 6mo, range 2y 3mo,14y 11mo). Results, One child had abnormalities on prenatal MRI at 21 weeks' gestation. The left cerebellar hemisphere was affected in five children, and the right hemisphere in two children. The vermis was involved in five children. The volume of the posterior fossa was variable. At the latest follow-up, neurological findings included truncal ataxia and muscular hypotonia in five children, limb ataxia in three patients, and head nodding in two patients. Three children had learning disability*, five had speech and language disorders, and one had a severe behavioural disorder. Interpretation, Severe UCH is a residual change after a disruptive prenatal cerebellar insult, most likely haemorrhagic. The outcome is variable, ranging from almost normal development to marked developmental impairment. Ataxia is a frequent but not a leading sign. It seems that involvement of the cerebellar vermis is often, but not consistently, associated with a poorer cognitive outcome, whereas an intact vermis is associated with normal outcome and no truncal ataxia. [source]

Severe falciparum malaria and acquired childhood language disorder

Speech and language disorders and associated problems: meeting children's needs

DEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE & CHILD NEUROLOGY, Issue 7 2004
Hilary Hart
No abstract is available for this article. [source]

Epilepsy and Language Development: The Continuous Spike-Waves during Slow Sleep Syndrome

EPILEPSIA, Issue 6 2007
Séverine Debiais
Summary:,Background: Continuous spike-waves during slow sleep syndrome (CSWSS) is a rare epileptic syndrome occurring in children, which is characterized by the association of epilepsy, neuropsychological disorders, and abnormal paroxysmal electroencephalographic (EEG) discharges activated by sleep. Language can be affected but, to date, language disorders and their long-term outcome have been documented only rarely. Purposes: Description of language impairment in patients with the CSWSS. Methods: We performed a detailed language testing in 10 right-handed children and adolescents with the CSWSS. Their pragmatic performance was compared to that of a control population of 36 children aged 6,10 years. Results: Patients with CSWSS had lower scores in tests measuring their lexical, morphosyntactic, and pragmatic skills compared to controls. Comprehension remains unaffected. In addition, language impairment was found to be just as severe in patients in remission as those still in an active phase. Conclusions: We found severe language impairments in lexical and syntactic skills. The language profile is different from that observed in the Landau,Kleffner syndrome. Moreover patients in remission and those in an active phase of the CSWSS have the same language impairment profiles. This confirms the poor long-term neuropsychological prognosis. Our results raise points about the relationship between epileptic activity and language development. This pilot study underscores the need to assess language, and especially pragmatic skills, and to study long-term outcome in such childhood epileptic syndromes. [source]

Progranulin: normal function and role in neurodegeneration

JOURNAL OF NEUROCHEMISTRY, Issue 2 2008
Jason L. Eriksen
Abstract Progranulin (PGRN) is a multifunctional protein that has attracted significant attention in the neuroscience community following the recent discovery of PGRN mutations in some cases of frontotemporal dementia. Most of the pathogenic mutations result in null alleles, and it is thought that frontotemporal dementia in these families results from PGRN haploinsufficiency. The neuropathology associated with PGRN mutations is characterized by the presence of tau-negative, ubiquitin-immunoreactive neuronal inclusions (frontotemporal lobar degeneration with ubiquitinated inclusions) that are also positive for the transactivation response DNA binding protein with Mr 43 kD. The clinical phenotype includes behavioral abnormalities, language disorders and parkinsonism but not motor neuron disease. There is significant clinical variation between families with different PGRN mutations and among members of individual families. The normal function of PGRN is complex, with the full-length form of the protein having trophic and anti-inflammatory activity, whereas proteolytic cleavage generates granulin peptides that promote inflammatory activity. In the periphery, PGRN functions in wound healing responses and modulates inflammatory events. In the CNS, PGRN is expressed by neurons and microglia; consequently, reduced levels of PGRN could affect both neuronal survival and CNS inflammatory processes. In this review, we discuss current knowledge of the molecular genetics, neuropathology, clinical phenotype and functional aspects of PGRN in the context of neurodegenerative disease. [source]

The Perception of Time: Basic Research and Some Potential Links to the Study of Language

LANGUAGE LEARNING, Issue 2008
J. H. Wearden
The article first discusses some recent work in time perception,in particular the distinction among prospective timing, retrospective timing, and passage of time judgments. The history and application of an "internal clock" model as an explanation of prospective timing performance is reviewed and contrasted with the different mechanisms needed for the other two types of time judgments. The article then discusses two areas suggesting relations between time perception research and language. The first is the idea that disturbances in the perception of duration, usually of very brief auditory stimuli, are associated with some language disorders. Another is the common use of metaphors for time, and the article relates these to the issue of whether a genuine "time sense" exists. [source]

Language abilities of siblings of children with autism

THE JOURNAL OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY AND ALLIED DISCIPLINES, Issue 6 2003
Tammy Pilowsky
Background: Language abilities of siblings of children with autism were examined to explore the possibility that language abilities are behavioral markers specific to the genetic liability for autism, as part of the broader phenotype. Method: Language abilities were compared among 27 siblings of children with autism, 23 siblings of children with mental retardation of unknown etiology (MR), and 22 siblings of children with developmental language disorders (DLD). Groups were matched by siblings' age, gender, birth order, family size, ethnicity, family income and by probands' gender and mental age. Results: Siblings of children with autism achieved higher scores than siblings of children with DLD on receptive, expressive, and total language scales of the Children's Evaluation of Language Fundamentals and on verbal IQ. Moreover, within the DLD group, school problems in the domains of reading and arithmetic were more prevalent than within the other two groups. Only 2 siblings of children with autism received clinical diagnoses based on DSM-IV criteria compared to 3 siblings of children with MR and 7 siblings of children with DLD. Conclusions: After excluding data of the diagnosed siblings, no differences in language abilities could be discerned among the groups, except that more siblings in the DLD group were identified as having language difficulties. In summary, although language deficits characterize autism, siblings of children with autism were not found to demonstrate deficits in language skills assessed by formal language tests, IQ, or academic skills. [source]

Children's Language Learning: An Interactionist Perspective

THE JOURNAL OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY AND ALLIED DISCIPLINES, Issue 1 2000
Robin S. Chapman
This review of children's language learning considers historical accounts of acquisition and individual variation, recent advances in methods for studying language learning, research on genetic and environmental input that have contributed to the interactionist perspective, and the relevance of cross-disciplinary work on language disorders and the biology of learning to future theories. It concludes that the study of children's language development is converging on an interactionist perspective of how children learn to talk, incorporating the contributions of both nature and nurture to emergent, functional language systems. Language learning is viewed as an integration of learning in multiple domains. [source]

Motor performance in 5-year-old preschool children with developmental speech and language disorders

ACTA PAEDIATRICA, Issue 8 2009
Iti Müürsepp
Abstract Aim:, The aim of the study was to evaluate motor performance in 5-year-old children with mild-to-moderate developmental speech and language disorders (DSLD) in comparison of age- and gender-matched healthy children. Materials and methods:, A total of 32 DSLD children and 45 control group (CG) children participated in our study. The children were examined for dexterity skills and gross motor function through vertical jumping performance, maximal isometric strength of the leg extensors and isometric hand-grip strength. Results:, Dexterity skills did not differ significantly in the measured groups, but DSLD children performed more poorly in gross motor tasks. DSLD children demonstrated significantly lower vertical jumping height compared to CG children. DSLD girls had lower isometric strength of the leg extensors compared to all other measured groups. The hand-grip strength was greater in CG boys compared to all other measured groups. No significant differences in this parameter were observed between CG girls and DSLD children, although DSLD girls' result was the lowest. Conclusion: In children with mild-to-moderate DSLD, the lag of gross motor development is clearly evident; however, they do not differ from CG children in dexterity skills. DSLD girls had more affected gross motor function compared to DSLD boys. [source]