Cognitive and language proficiencies predict variability in neural activity mediating semantic and syntactic processing in children
Abstract
Evidence from studies of language development indicates that abilities in specific cognitive and language domains are likely to show different patterns of strengths and weaknesses across individuals. Therefore, we hypothesized that the relationships between distinct cognitive and language proficiencies and the underlying neural activity for specific language functions also differ across individuals. To date, the understanding of relationships between language proficiency and neural indices mediating language processing has been limited to the use of composite measures of language proficiency in adults. Furthermore, very little evidence exists regarding the interactions between various aspects of cognition and event-related brain potentials (ERPs) indexing language processing in children. The current study addresses the following question: How do proficiencies in specific cognitive and language functions impact neural indices mediating language processing in children? Thirty typically developing seven- and eight-year-olds were divided into high-normal and low-normal proficiency groups based on performance on nonverbal IQ, auditory word recall, and grammatical morphology tasks. ERPs were elicited by semantic anomalies and phrase-structure violations in naturally spoken sentences. Consistent with our hypothesis, the proficiencies for each of the specific cognitive and language tasks uniquely contributed to individual variability in neural indices of semantic (N400) and syntactic (P600) processing. These results suggest that distinct aptitudes within broader domains of cognition and language, even within the normal range, influence the neural signatures of semantic and syntactic processing. Furthermore, the current findings have important implications for the design and interpretation of developmental studies of ERPs indexing language processing, and they highlight the need to take into account cognitive abilities both within and outside the classic language domain.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Weber-Fox, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Neurosciences|Cognitive psychology
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