Neurophysiologic correlates of deficient phonological representations and object naming in prematurely born children.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this follow-up study was to evaluate the development of object naming ability and auditory processing in prematurely born children. Furthermore, we investigated whether the mismatch negativity (MMN) parameters at the age of 4 years correlate with the MMN parameters and naming ability at the age of 6 years.


METHODS
Twelve very low birth weight (VLBW) preterm children (mean age 5 years 7 months) and matched controls were studied. Object naming was measured by the Boston naming test. Auditory event-related potentials (ERPs), especially the MMN, were recorded for Finnish syllables (standard /taa/; deviants /ta/ and /kaa/) in an oddball paradigm.


RESULTS
VLBW preterm children scored significantly lower in the object naming test than their controls. The MMN amplitude for consonant change was significantly smaller in the preterm group compared to the controls. The MMN amplitude at the age of 4 years correlated with the MMN amplitude at the age of 6 years. Furthermore, absence of the MMN at the age of 4 years predicted naming difficulties at the age of 6 years.


CONCLUSIONS
VLBW preterm children with a difficulty to preattentively discriminate changes in syllables, as indexed by the diminished change detection response, MMN, seem to have sustained naming difficulty. Therefore, it is reasonable to record the MMN along with the language development from infancy, in order to identify the children at risk for language deficiencies and to provide appropriate rehabilitation.
Jansson-Verkasalo
Eira
E
Department of Finnish, Saami and Logopedics, University of, Oulu, Finland. eira.jansson-verkasalo@oulu.fi
Korpilahti
Pirjo
P
Jäntti
Ville
V
Valkama
Marita
M
Vainionpää
Leena
L
Alku
Paavo
P
Suominen
Kalervo
K
Näätänen
Risto
R
D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000523:psychology*; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight / Q000523:psychology; D007804:Language Development; D007806:Language Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D013060:Speech / Q000502:physiology; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology; D014825:Vocabulary