Sex differences in early language delay and in developmental language disorder.
J Neurosci Res
; 101(5): 654-667, 2023 05.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-34822733
ABSTRACT
Developmental language disorder (DLD) is a neurodevelopmental condition, occurring in about 3% to 7% of preschoolers, that can impair communication and negatively impact educational and social attainments, in spite of adequate neurological, cognitive, emotional, social development, and educational opportunities for language learning. Significant risk factors for DLD are male sex, familial history of early language delay, low parental education, and various perinatal factors. A strong sex effect with a higher prevalence of language delay and DLD in males than in females has been consistently reported. Neurobiological and environmental risk factors, interacting with each other, are probably responsible for the phenotypic expression of DLD. The aim of this brief review is to further the knowledge of the role of sex in early language delay and DLD by analyzing the evidence from four significant sources epidemiological studies, studies on twins, family aggregation studies, and studies on sex chromosome trisomies. Data pertaining only to sex differences (biological and physiological characteristics of females and males) will be analyzed. Studies on family aggregations and twins confirm the role of genetic factors and of sex in determining language abilities and disabilities, but genes alone do not determine outcomes. Sex chromosome trisomies represent a unique example of the relationship between a genetic alteration and a language disorder. Clarification of how sex acts in determining DLD could provide new information on early risk factors and, thus, contribute to improve diagnosis and clinical management.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Bases de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Caracteres Sexuales
/
Trastornos del Desarrollo del Lenguaje
Tipo de estudio:
Risk_factors_studies
Límite:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Neurosci Res
Año:
2023
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Italia