title: Duration of auditory sensory memory in parents of children with SLI: a mismatch negativity study.
abstract: In a previous behavioral study, we showed that parents of children with SLI had a subclinical deficit in phonological short-term memory. Here, we tested the hypothesis that they also have a deficit in nonverbal auditory sensory memory. We measured auditory sensory memory using a paradigm involving an electrophysiological component called the mismatch negativity (MMN). The MMN is a measure of the brain's ability to detect a difference between a frequent standard stimulus (1000 Hz tone) and a rare deviant one (1200 Hz tone). Memory effects were assessed by varying the inter-stimulus interval (ISI) between the standard and deviant. We predicted that parents of children with SLI would have a smaller MMN than parents of typically developing children at a long ISI (3000 ms), but not at a short one (800 ms). This was broadly confirmed. However, individual differences in MMN amplitude did not correlate with measures of phonological short-term memory. Attenuation of MMN amplitude at the longer ISI thus did not provide unambiguous support for the hypothesis of a reduced auditory sensory memory in parents of affected children. We conclude by reviewing possible explanations for the observed group effects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK. oto_jo@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Johanna G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Barry
authors.forename: Mervyn J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Hardiman
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Line
authors.forename: Katherine B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: Ifat
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yasin
authors.forename: Dorothy V M
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Bishop
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010290:Parents