title: Children's brain responses to sound changes in pseudo words in a multifeature paradigm.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The multifeature mismatch negativity (MMN) paradigm has previously been used to study MMN responses to changes in tones or isolated syllables. We tested 4-12 year old children's MMNs to changes in a naturally produced pseudo word context.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied preschoolers' (under the age of 7 years, N = 15, mean age 5 years 4 months) and school childrens' (over the age of 7 years, N = 15, mean age 9 years 3 months) MMNs to five types of changes (vowel duration, fundamental frequency, gap, intensity, vowel identity) in the middle syllable of a pseudo word [tɑtɑtɑ] using a multifeature paradigm.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Vowel duration and gap changes elicited larger frontocentral MMN responses than other change types and the vowel identity change also produced an early positive p-MMR. The presence of the MMN was also determined at the individual level, and it was found that vowel duration and gap deviants produced MMNs in most of the participants.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The current study shows that children's neural speech sound discrimination can be assessed in a word context in a short recording time (30 min) by using the multifeature paradigm.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A paradigm which can be used to investigate the discrimination of several change types of speech-sounds in a natural context can be useful for investigating speech development and deficits.
authors: Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Cognitive Science, Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland. eino.partanen@helsinki.fi
authors: Eino
authors: E
authors: Partanen
authors: Ritva
authors: R
authors: Torppa
authors: Johannes
authors: J
authors: Pykäläinen
authors: Teija
authors: T
authors: Kujala
authors: Minna
authors: M
authors: Huotilainen
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011594:Psychometrics; D014888:Wechsler Scales