Speech Features and Electroencephalogram Parameters in 4- to 11-Year-Old Children

Abstract

The goal of the study is to investigate a correlation between different levels of speech organization, indicating the physiological processes of maturation of the vocal tract structures and brain regions associated with speech and language, and basic electroencephalogram (EEG) rhythms, reflecting the age-related dynamics of maturation of brain structures in children aged 4-11 years. The complex method of analysis, including EEG registration, clinical and spectral analysis of EEG; dichotic listening, identifying the profile of functional lateral asymmetry (PFLA), and phonemic hearing of the child; recording, linguistic, and acoustic analysis of child speech; and identification of speech characteristics reflecting the formation of its different levels, was used. Two complementary experimental series were conducted: the correlation between EEG parameters, speech features, dichotic listening, the PFLA, and phonemic hearing of the child in the age dynamics of 4-11 years (first); the specificity of EEG patterns in children at different stages of reading skills formation (second). The result of this study showed the correlation between acoustic and linguistic features of child speech and brain activity. The analysis of EEG and acoustic features of child speech revealed the correlation between pitch and pitch range values in spontaneous speech and thetarhythm intensity in EEG. High values of pitch and its variation in younger children (4-6 years) are related to the intensity of theta rhythm in the EEG pattern, as this rhythm is most expressed in younger children. It was revealed that the alpha rhythm is asymmetrically localized in children with clear pronunciation of words (which determines the intelligibility of their speech) that is typical for 6.5-to 11-year-old children. The formation of reading skills in a child is associated with a change in the characteristics of the alpha rhythm-from irregular, unstable, low frequency, and low amplitude in children at the beginning of reading skills mastering to medium and low amplitude, regular, asymmetrically localized in children reading words and phrases. The specifics of the relation between brain activity and different levels of speech formation at different child's age periods are discussed.

The development of peak alpha frequency from infancy to adolescence and its role in visual temporal processing: A meta-analysis

“…The following variables were coded - if reported - for each of these studies: study location, race/ethnicity breakdown of the participants, recording channels (e.g. occipital regions: O1 and O2), and whether the study was performed with repeated measures/longitudinal ( *Benz et al, 2013 , Kwok et al, 2019 , Lanthier et al, 2020 , Lyakso et al, 2020 , Marcuse et al, 2008 , *Dickinson et al, 2018 , *Cragg et al, 2011 , Marshall et al, 2002 ) or cross-sectional design. Within each study, we treated each investigated age group as independent, and extracted sample size (including number of females, if reported), mean age (reported in months), and how resting state measurements were obtained.…”

“…In our sample, we had a total of eight studies that performed repeated measures on the same group or longitudinal design. For example, repeated measures design included comparing an eyes-closed versus an eyes-open condition within the same participants ( *Benz et al, 2013 , Kwok et al, 2019 , Lanthier et al, 2020 , Lyakso et al, 2020 ) or longitudinally tracked PAF ( Marcuse et al, 2008 , *Cragg et al, 2011 , Marshall et al, 2002 , Dickinson et al, 2019 ). These studies were also entered as independent samples into the model.…”

Early Development Indicators Predict Speech Features of Autistic Children

“…The formation of reading skills is correlated with the frequent diseases in the child during the first year of life, the cooing (vocalic comfort vocalizations) in the first year of lifewith regression in development afterward. So, the correlations between certain skills in the first, second, and the third years of TD child's life and different aspects of his development that determine the developmental trajectory [24,28] are complemented by the factor of disorder. The disorder (ASD) affects the formation of the child's speech and, accordingly, all child development and the abilities associated with speech, determining a more complex individual profile of the ASD child's development.…”

A Toolbox and Crowdsourcing Platform for Automatic Labeling of Independent Components in Electroencephalography

“…• Average magnitude in alpha band (AMALB): The ratio between average amplitude in the alpha band (6-12 Hz) and average amplitude in other frequencies (0-6 Hz; 13-125 Hz) is sensitive to alpha ICs. The alpha range was expended to 6 Hz because alpha band tends to be in the lower frequency range for children (Marshall et al, 2002;Lyakso et al, 2020). 6,12] x(f ) Source code used to compute the features can be found via link https://github.com/ledovsky/alice-eeg-ml.…”