Language Development and Disorders

The clinical and genetic spectrum of paediatric speech and language disorders in 52,143 individuals

This study analyzes 52,143 individuals to characterize paediatric speech and language disorders, identifying genetic associations and clinical patterns.

Functional reorganization of brain regions supporting non-adjacent dependency learning across the first half year of life

The paper investigates how brain regions supporting non-adjacent dependency learning develop in infants using fNIRS, finding left-hemispheric networks emerge and strengthen with auditory input.

Neural speech tracking in newborns: prenatal learning and contributing factors

The paper investigates prenatal language learning in newborns using EEG, finding evidence of discrimination between familiar and unfamiliar rhymes, prosodic learning, and correlations between maternal depression, fetal stress, and later language development.

Infant vocal category exploration as a foundation for speech development

This study provides the first large-scale empirical evidence of infant vocal category clustering and exploration during the first year of life, showing non-random patterns in vocal production.

Neural processing of rhythmic speech by children with developmental language disorder (DLD): An EEG study

This study uses EEG to compare neural processing of rhythmic speech in children with and without developmental language disorder (DLD), finding differences in phase entrainment, power, and coupling across frequency bands.

Microstructural Properties of the Cerebellar Peduncles in Children with Developmental Language Disorder

This study examines microstructural properties of cerebellar peduncles in children with developmental language disorder using diffusion-weighted imaging and finds reduced fractional anisotropy in the inferior cerebellar peduncles.

Genome-wide analyses of vocabulary size in infancy and toddlerhood: associations with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and cognition-related traits

This study identifies genetic links between early vocabulary development and ADHD and cognition traits using genome-wide analyses.

Prenatal experience with language shapes the brain

This study shows that newborns' brain activity shows increased long-range temporal correlations after speech stimulation, particularly for the language they heard prenatally.

Differences in cortical surface area in developmental language disorder

This study compares cortical surface area and thickness between children with developmental language disorder and controls, finding reduced surface area in specific brain regions but no differences in thickness or asymmetry.

Visual Artificial Grammar Learning Across One Year in 7-Year-Olds and Adults

This study investigates long-term retention of visual sequence learning in 7-year-olds and adults over one year, finding similar transfer abilities but overall better performance in adults.

Language exposure and brain myelination in early development

This study examines how early language exposure and socioeconomic status affect brain myelination in infants at 6 and 30 months of age using MRI.

Children's syntax is supported by the maturation of BA44 at 4 years, but of the posterior STS at 3 years of age

The paper shows that 3-year-olds' syntax is linked to the posterior STS, while 4-year-olds' syntax is linked to BA44 maturation.

Quantitative MRI reveals differences in striatal myelin in children with DLD

The paper uses quantitative MRI to find reduced myelin in specific brain regions of children with DLD compared to typically developing children.

Tracking transitional probabilities and segmenting auditory sequences are dissociable processes in adults and neonates

This study shows that tracking transitional probabilities and segmenting auditory sequences are separate processes in adults and neonates, with prosodic cues aiding segmentation and learning increasing neural similarity across infants.

Development of infants' neural speech processing and its relation to later language skills: an MEG study

This study uses MEG to track neural speech processing in infants and links it to later language development, finding that nonnative speech processing predicts vocabulary growth.

From computing transition probabilities to word recognition in sleeping neonates, a two-step neural tale

The paper investigates how neonates process and retain an artificial language, finding a two-step learning strategy involving neural entrainment and memory of syllable sequences.

Assessing the sensitivity of EEG-based frequency-tagging as a metric for statistical learning

This study evaluates the sensitivity of EEG-based frequency-tagging as a measure of statistical learning in individuals, finding low individual-level sensitivity compared to behavioral measures.

Speech-like sounds dominate the human infant landscape

The paper quantifies the frequency of human infant laughter and protophones in natural environments, finding laughter occurs less frequently than cries and protophones dominate vocalizations.

Association between genes regulating neural pathways for quantitative traits of speech and language disorders

This study identifies 18 significant genetic loci associated with speech sound disorders through GWAS and finds polygenic risk scores linked to clinical severity.

Gradual development of non-adjacent dependency learning during early childhood

This study shows that children's ability to learn non-adjacent dependencies in a foreign language gradually declines with age, as indicated by decreasing ERP effects.

White matter in infancy is prospectively associated with language outcome in kindergarten

This study shows that infant white matter organization predicts kindergarten language abilities, specifically phonological awareness and vocabulary knowledge.

Neuroplasticity associated with changes in conversational turn-taking following a family-based intervention

This study examines how a family-based intervention affecting conversational turn-taking influences neuroplasticity and language development in young children.

The relative roles of voice and gesture in early communication development

This study examines the development of vocalization and gesture in infants, finding that vocalizations outpace gestures in frequency across early ages.

Canonical babbling during vocal turn taking and independent vocal play

The paper examines canonical babbling in infants, finding higher ratios during periods of vocal turn taking and vocal play, suggesting both social and endogenous motivations influence vocal development.

Social and endogenous infant vocalizations

The paper examines infant vocalizations, finding that most protophones are produced endogenously rather than directed at others, highlighting the infant's role in vocal learning.

Seven-year-olds recall non-adjacent dependencies after overnight retention

The paper tests 7-year-olds' ability to recall non-adjacent dependencies in a non-native language after an overnight retention period using ERPs and behavioral tasks.

Symbolic labelling in 5-month-old human infants

This study shows that 5-month-old infants can form abstract symbolic representations and map them to arbitrary labels, suggesting symbolic thinking begins before language.

Differences in word learning: bilingualism or linguistic experience?

This study investigates how bilingualism and orthotactic language similarity affect word learning in children and adults, finding differences in how bilinguals process legal and illegal word patterns.

The network properties of the brain at the time of normal birth support the acquisition of language processing

The paper examines how brain network properties at birth predict language skills and shows that syntactic abilities are affected by preterm birth.

Linguistically deprived children: meta-analysis of published research underlines the importance of early syntactic language use for normal brain development

This study analyzes linguistic isolates to show that early syntactic language exposure is critical for frontoposterior brain connections, as evidenced by their impaired performance in tasks requiring mental synthesis of objects.