Steven L. Miller

Temporal processing deficits of language-learning impaired children ameliorated by training.

Children with language-based learning impairments (LLIs) have major deficits in their recognition of some rapidly successive phonetic elements and nonspeech sound stimuli. In the current study, LLI children were engaged in adaptive training exercises mounted as computer “games” designed to drive improvements in their “temporal processing” skills. With 8 to 16 hours of training during a 20-day period, LLI children improved markedly in their abilities to recognize brief and fast sequences of nonspeech and speech stimuli.

Neural deficits in children with dyslexia ameliorated by behavioral remediation: Evidence from functional MRI

Developmental dyslexia, characterized by unexplained difficulty in reading, is associated with behavioral deficits in phonological processing. Functional neuroimaging studies have shown a deficit in the neural mechanisms underlying phonological processing in children and adults with dyslexia. The present study examined whether behavioral remediation ameliorates these dysfunctional neural mechanisms in children with dyslexia. Functional MRI was performed on 20 children with dyslexia (8–12 years old) during phonological processing before and after a remediation program focused on auditory processing and oral language training. Behaviorally, training improved oral language and reading performance. Physiologically, children with dyslexia showed increased activity in multiple brain areas. Increases occurred in left temporo-parietal cortex and left inferior frontal gyrus, bringing brain activation in these regions closer to that seen in normal-reading children. Increased activity was observed also in right-hemisphere frontal and temporal regions and in the anterior cingulate gyrus. Children with dyslexia showed a correlation between the magnitude of increased activation in left temporo-parietal cortex and improvement in oral language ability. These results suggest that a partial remediation of language-processing deficits, resulting in improved reading, ameliorates disrupted function in brain regions associated with phonological processing and produces additional compensatory activation in other brain regions.

Method for adaptive training of listening and language comprehension using processed speech within an animated story

A method for adaptively training a subject, using auditory processing of phonemes within command sentences, to improve the subjects listening comprehension, grammatical parsing, and serial memory is provided. The method utilizes a number of training installments, each designed for testing a particular aspect of the subjects language skills, all tied together by a common story. More specifically, installments are provided that narrate a story, test the subjects listening comprehension to the narrated story, test the subjects ability to grammatically parse increasingly difficult sentence structures, and test the subjects ability to select and manipulate graphical objects in response to auditory commands. Speech processing is used for the narration, as well as for commands within each test to allow the subject to more easily distinguish between similar sounding phonemes. As the subject improves his/her ability to correctly respond to the tests, the amount of processing applied to the commands is reduced, ultimately to the level of normal speech.

Apparatus for enhancing phoneme differences according to acoustic processing profile for language learning impaired subject

An apparatus and method for screening an individuals ability to process acoustic events is provided. The invention provides sequences (or trials) of acoustically processed target and distractor phonemes to a subject for identification. The acoustic processing includes amplitude emphasis of selected frequency envelopes, stretching (in the time domain) of selected portions of phonemes, and phase adjustment of selection portions of phonemes relative to a base frequency. After a number of trials, the method of the present invention develops a profile for an individual that indicates whether the individuals ability to process acoustic events is within a normal range, and if not, what processing can provide the individual with optimal hearing. The individuals profile can then be used by a listening or processing device to particularly emphasize, stretch, or otherwise manipulate an audio stream to provide the individual with an optimal chance of distinguishing between similar acoustic events.

Electrophysiological indicants of black-white discrimination performance for letter and non-letter patterns.

This study examined event-related potentials (ERPs) and behavioral measures, considered to be sensitive to the selective processing of black versus white letter and non-letter patterns, in a group of seventy-four randomly selected 6 to 8 year old children. Results demonstrated faster and more accurate behavioral performance on the experimental task for the letter than for the non-letter patterns. The ERP measures provided complementary information regarding this letter facilitation effect, indicating that the selective neural processing of letter as compared to non-letter patterns was present in the electrophysiological waveform within the initial 100-140 ms after stimulus presentation. Later ERP measures (200-260 and 500-600 ms post-stimulus) in response to the letter stimuli showed greater differences as a function of task relevance over the left than over the right hemisphere. The results from the present study indicate a remarkably early facilitative influence of stimulus type (letter versus non-letter patterns) on the luminance discrimination of these stimuli and are consistent with an overlap of linguistic and perceptual processing.