NEUROPHYSIOLOGICAL MEASURES OF SPEECH PERCEPTION AS PRECURSORS OF DYSLEXIA

Ben Maassen1, Jaco Pasman2 & Marieke van Herten2
1Medical Psychology; Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center; 2Neurology; Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center

ID 1225
[full paper]

Developmental dyslexia is a language disorder which affects the phonological domain. This prospective longitudinal study aims to determine whether early markers in auditory processing can be found that contribute in the prediction of later reading problems. Over 200 children, genetically at risk of dyslexia, and a control group of over 100 children are followed from age 2 months to age 10 years. The research protocol consists of neurophysiological and behavioral measurements twice a year. This presentation reports on two studies to assess auditory information processing, by means of neurophysiological registrations, in particular auditory event-related potentials (AERPs), at age 2 and 17 months. Results showed, first a consistent pattern of responses across ages, and second quantitative AERP differences between at risk and control children. These results can be interpreted in terms of the underlying auditory processing deficits in developmental dyslexia, and can be used as clinical precursors for early intervention.