Nature 387, 176 - 178 (08 May 1997); doi:10.1038/387176a0

Deficits in auditory temporal and spectral resolution in language-impaired children

Beverly A. Wright^*†, Linda J. Lombardino^‡, Wayne M. King^‡, Cynthia S. Puranik^‡, Christiana M. Leonard^§ & Michael M. Merzenich^*

^* Keck Center for Integrative Neurosdence, Box 0732, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143-0732, USA
^‡ Department of Communication Processes and Disorders, ^§ Department of Neurosdence and University of Florida Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA
^†Present address: Audiology and Hearing Sciences Program, Northwestern University, 2299 North Campus Drive, Evanston, Illinois 60208-3550, USA.

Between 3 and 6 per cent of children who are otherwise unimpaired have extreme difficulties producing and understanding spoken language¹. This disorder is typically labelled specific language impairment. Children diagnosed with specific language impairment often have accompanying reading difficulties (dyslexia)², but not all children with reading difficulties have specific language impairment³. Some researchers claim that language impairment arises from failures specific to language or cognitive processing^4–6. Others hold that language impairment results from a more elemental problem that makes affected children unable to hear the acoustic distinctions among successive brief sounds in speech^7–11. Here we report the results of psycho-physical tests employing simple tones and noises showing that children with specific language impairment have severe auditory perceptual deficits for brief but not long tones in particular sound contexts. Our data support the view that language difficulties result from problems in auditory perception, and provide further information about the nature of these perceptual problems that should contribute to improving the diagnosis and treatment of language impairment and related disorders.

1. Proc. Natl Conf. on Learning Disabilities Bethesda and 12 and 13 January 1987 (York, Parkton, MD, 1988).
2. Catts, H. W. The relationship between speech−language impairments and reading disabiities. J. Speech Hear. Res. 36, 948−958 (1993). | PubMed | ChemPort |
3. Aaron, P. G., Kuchta, S. & Grapenthin, C. T. Is there a thing called dyslexia? Annals Dyslexia 36, 33−49 (1988).
4. Aram, D. & Nation, J. Patterns of preschool language disorders. J. Speech Hear. Res. 18, 229−241 (1975).
5. Vellutino, F. R., Steger, B. M., Moyer, S. C., Harding, C. J. & Niles, J. A. Has the perceptual deficit hypothesis led us astray? J. Learn. Dis. 10, 375−385 (1977).
6. Studdert-Kennedy, M. & Mody, M. Auditory temporal perception deficits in the reading-impaired: A critical review of the evidence. Psychon. Bull. Rev. 2, 508−514 (1995).
7. Tallal, P. & Piercy, M. Defects of non-verbal auditory perception in children with developmental aphasia. Nature 241, 468−469 (1973). | PubMed | ISI | ChemPort |
8. Frumkin, B. & Rapin, I. Perception of vowels and consonant-vowels of varying duration in language impaired children. Neuropsychologia 18, 443−454 (1980). | Article | PubMed | ChemPort |
9. Lubert, N. Auditory perceptual impairments in children with specific language disorders: A review of the literature. J. Speech Hear. Dis. 46, 3−9 (1981).
10. Elliott, L. L., Hammer, M. A. & Scholl, M. E. Fine-grained auditory discrimination in normal children and children with language-learning problems. J. Speech Hear. Res. 32, 112−119 (1989). | PubMed | ChemPort |
11. Kraus, N. et al. Auditory neurophysiologic responses and discrimination deficits in children with learning problems. Science 273, 971−973 (1996). | PubMed | ISI | ChemPort |
12. Fastl, H. Temporal masking effects: II. Critical band noise masker. Acustica 36, 317−330 (1976/77).
13. Soderquist, D. R., Carstens, A. A. & Frank, G. J. H. Backward, simultaneous, and forward masking as a function of signal delay and frequency. J. Aud. Res. 21, 227−245 (1981). | PubMed | ChemPort |
14. Patterson, R. D., Nimmo-Smith, I., Weber, D. L. & Milroy, R. The deterioration of hearing with age: Frequency selectivity, the critical ratio, the audiogram, and speech threshold. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 72, 1788−1803 (1982). | PubMed | ChemPort |
15. Patterson, R. D. & Moore, B. C. J. in Frequency Selectivity in Hearing (ed. Moore, B. C. J.) 123−176 (Academic, New York, 1986).
16. Moore, B. C. J., Poon, P. W. F., Bacon, S. P. & Glasberg, B. R. The temporal course of masking and the auditory filter shape. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 81, 1873−1880 (1987). | PubMed | ChemPort |
17. Carlyon, R. P. Changes in the masked thresholds of brief tones produced by prior bursts of noise. Hear. Res. 41, 223−236 (1989). | Article | PubMed | ChemPort |
18. Merzenich, M. M. et al. Temporal processing deficits of language-learning impaired children ameliorated by training. Science 271, 77−81 (1996). | PubMed | ISI | ChemPort |
19. Farmer, M. E. & Klein, R. M. The evidence for a temporal processing deficit linked to dyslexia: A review. Psychon. Bull. Rev. 2, 460−493 (1995). | ISI |
20. Bradley, L. & Bryant, P. E. Difficulties in auditory organisation as a possible cause of reading backwardness. Nature 271, 746−747 (1978). | PubMed | ISI | ChemPort |
21. Gauger, L. M., Lombardino, L. J. & Leonard, C. M. Brain morphology in children with specific language impairment. J. Speech Hear. Res. (in the press).
22. Green, D. M. Stimulus selection in adaptive psychophysical procedures. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 87, 2662−2674 (1990). | PubMed | ChemPort |
23. Wagenaar, W. A. Note on the construction of digram-balanced latin squares. Psych. Bull. 72, 384−386 (1969).
24. Semel, E., Wiig, E. & Secord, W. The clinical evaluation of language fundamentals revised (Psychological Corporation, San Antonio, Texas, 1987).
25. Brown, L., Sherbenou, R. J. & Johnson, S. K. Test of nonverbal intelligence (Pro-Ed, Austin, Texas, 1990).