An fNIRS investigation of language processes in DLD
Research type
Research Study
Full title
IDENTIFYING NEURAL MARKERS OF LANGUAGE PROCESSING IN CHILDREN WITH DEVELOPMENTAL LANGUAGE DISORDER (DLD) AND TYPICALLY DEVELOPED CHILDREN: A FUNCTIONAL NEAR INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY (FNIRS) STUDY
IRAS ID
269962
Contact name
Douglas E H Hartley
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Nottingham
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 9 months, 30 days
Research summary
Research Summary
Approximately 2 children in every class of 30 present a condition known as developmental language disorder (DLD). DLD has no known cause and is characterised by difficulty understanding and expressing complex speech. Many children with DLD experience problems with social, educational and mental development that continue to exist into adulthood. Unfortunately clinicians currently have to rely on subjective speech tests in order to identify children with DLD. These tests cannot be conducted reliably until children are older. There is a need for a clinical tool which can objectively measure how well a child is perceiving speech from a much younger age. In this study we will be using This research uses functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), a technique for measuring brain activity. It is safe for use in all children, and doesn’t harm a child’s head. We will use fNIRS to measure brain responses whilst a child is performing speech and language tasks such as pressing a button when they hear a wrong word or repeat sentences and words. These brain responses or patterns of activity may tell us more about a child’s ability to understand and produce language. We will then compare these results to data obtained in children with typical language development and hope that this information will enable us to detect individuals who are having problems processing speech. These results may even allow us to diagnose at an earlier stage, which children are at risk of doing poorly in terms of speech and language skills. In the future, this will hopefully allow us to intervene, address and treat poor speech and language development at an earlier stage of a child’s life.
Summary of Results
Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is a lifelong condition that affects about 8% of the population. Unlike some health conditions with clear biological causes, DLD doesn't have a straightforward origin. Currently, diagnosing DLD relies on behavioral tests, but these are often not reliable for children younger than school age. As a result, diagnosis and treatment are frequently delayed until children start formal education. Early research suggests that we can use neural markers of language processing to create an accurate and early diagnostic tool for DLD in preschoolers, providing access to early interventions. Our proposal involved using a new, non-invasive brain imaging technique called functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to identify these neural markers in children with DLD.
Methods: We conducted a neuroimaging study involving a total of 6 participants aged 6–16 years old, with 1 participant having DLD. During the study, participants had a 10-minute resting state imaging session and completed various computer-administered language and cognitive tasks. We recorded their brain activity using fNIRS from specific brain regions.
Results: In typically developed children and adolescents, we observed that widespread connections between language regions and the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) decrease as age increases. On the other hand, connections between temporal regions become well established by late childhood. Increased activity over the right auditory regions is associated with decreased language skills. Although we describe data from the DLD participant, further analysis was challenging due to the limited sample size (n=1).
Conclusions: Our overall goal was to identify neural markers of language processing in children with DLD and typically developed children, aiming to create an objective early diagnostic tool. Ultimately, this research could enhance the effectiveness of speech and language therapies, improving the quality of life for children with DLD. This work holds significant potential for translational research in language development, especially since there are currently no objective neural-based tools for diagnosing DLD.
REC name
East Midlands - Nottingham 1 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/EM/0002
Date of REC Opinion
2 Mar 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion