Maturation of auditory evoked potentials from 6 to 48 months: prediction to 3 and 4 year language and cognitive abilities.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the maturation of long-latency auditory evoked potentials (LLAEP) from 6 to 48 months in infants with a family history of language impairment (FH+) and control infants (FH-).


METHODS
LLAEPs of seventeen FH+ infants were compared to 28 FH- infants at 6, 9, 12, 16, 24, 36 and 48 months. Participants received a passive oddball paradigm using fast- and slow-rate non-linguistic auditory stimuli and at 36 and 48 months completed a battery of standardized language and cognitive tests.


RESULTS
Overall, the morphology of LLAEP responses differed for fast- versus slow-rate stimuli. Significant age-related changes in latency and amplitude were observed. Group differences, favoring FH- infants, in the rate of maturation of LLAEPs were found. Responses to fast-rate stimuli predicted language abilities at 36 and 48 months of age.


CONCLUSIONS
The development of LLAEP in FH+ children is modulated by differences in the rate of maturation as well as variations in temporal processing abilities.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings provide evidence for the role of non-linguistic auditory processes in early language development and illustrate the utility of using a perceptual-processing skills model to further our understanding of the precursors of language development and impairment.
Choudhury
Naseem
N
Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 197 University Ave., Newark, NJ 07102, USA. nchoudhu@andromeda.rutgers.edu
Benasich
April A
AA
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D000328:Adult; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007804:Language Development; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology