title: Idiom comprehension deficits in relation to corpus callosum agenesis and hypoplasia in children with spina bifida meningomyelocele.
abstract: Idioms are phrases with figurative meanings that are not directly derived from the literal meanings of the words in the phrase. Idiom comprehension varies with: literality, whether the idiom is literally plausible; compositionality, whether individual words contribute to a figurative meaning; and contextual bias. We studied idiom comprehension in children with spina bifida meningomyelocele (SBM), a neurodevelopmental disorder associated with problems in discourse comprehension and agenesis and hypoplasia of the corpus callosum. Compared to age peers, children with SBM understood decomposable idioms (which are processed more like literal language) but not non-decomposable idioms (which require contextual analyses for acquisition). The impairment in non-decomposable idioms was related to congenital agenesis of the corpus callosum, which suggests that the consequences of impaired interhemispheric communication, whether congenital or acquired in adulthood, are borne more by configurational than by compositional language.
authors.affiliation: Brain and Behavior Research Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Joelene
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huber-Okrainec
authors.forename: Susan E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Blaser
authors.forename: Maureen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dennis
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D061085:Agenesis of Corpus Callosum; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006849:Hydrocephalus / Q000473:pathology; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000473:pathology*; D008037:Linguistics; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008591:Meningomyelocele / Q000473:pathology*; D019365:Metaphor; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time; D016135:Spinal Dysraphism / Q000473:pathology*