Musical Ability as a Potential Warning Factor in DLD Diagnosis

The PRISM hypothesis (FIVEASH et al, 2021) suggests that rhythmic processing in speech and music shares three fundamental mechanisms: (1) precise and fine-grained auditory processing; (2) synchronization and alignment of neural oscillations with external rhythmic stimuli; and (3) sensorimotor coupling. Understanding the connections between these mechanisms may provide valuable insights for studies on rhythm in speech and music. Children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) demonstrate difficulties in auditory processing and neural oscillation synchronization, which result in challenges with speech rhythm and musical rhythm processing (CUMMING, WILSON and GOSWAMI, 2015). This study investigates the presence of rhythmic activity difficulties in children with DLD while also assessing the Atypical Rhythm Risk Hypothesis (ARRH; LADÁNYI et al, 2020), which proposes that atypical rhythm processing could be a risk factor for speech and language developmental disorders. Two groups of children (school-aged) are formed: one with typical development and another with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). Tasks assessing rhythmic perception and production will be administered, including rhythm discrimination and rhythmic synchronization paradigms (ex. Tapping Task). The experimental conditions will vary the rhythms across slow, moderate, and fast tempos to evaluate each group`s responses to different levels of rhythmic complexity and the accuracy/synchronization of the taps according to the rhythms to be followed. It is expected that atypical children will perform worse in rhythmic tasks compared to their typical peers, aligning with prior research indicating that children with DLD struggle with both verbal linguistic and rhythmic processing.

REFERENCES

Cumming R, Wilson A, & Goswami U (2015). Basic auditory processing and sensitivity to prosodic structure in children with specific language impairments: A new look at a perceptual hypothesis. Frontiers in Psychology, 6. 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00972

Fiveash A, Bedoin N, Gordon RL, Tillmann B. Processing rhythm in speech and music: Shared mechanisms and implications for developmental speech and language disorders. Neuropsychology. 2021 Nov;35(8):771-791. doi: 10.1037/neu0000766. Epub 2021 Aug 26. PMID: 34435803; PMCID: PMC8595576.

Ladányi, E., Persici, V., Fiveash, A., Tillmann, B., & Gordon, R. L. (2020). Is atypical rhythm a risk factor for developmental speech and language disorders? Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science, e1528. doi:10.1002/wcs.1528