Experience-dependent effects of passive auditory exposure in infants impact theta phase synchrony and predict later language.

The establishment of cortical representations critical for mounting language is supported by both ongoing neural maturation and experience-expectant plasticity as infants increasingly recognize the linguistic events that occur most often in their surrounding environment. Previous research has demonstrated that enhanced efficiency of syllabic representation and discrimination is facilitated by interactive attention-driven, nonspeech auditory experience. However, experience-dependent effects on syllable processing as a function of nonspeech, passive auditory exposure (PAE), remain unclear. As theta band-specific activity has been shown to support syllabic processing, we chose theta inter-trial phase synchrony to examine the experience-dependent effects of PAE on the processing of a syllable contrast. Results demonstrated that infants receiving PAE increased syllabic processing efficiency. Specifically, compared with controls, the group receiving PAE showed more mature, efficient processing, exhibiting less theta phase synchrony for the standard syllable at 9 months, and at 18 months, for the deviant syllable. Furthermore, the PAE modulatory effect on theta phase synchrony at 7 and 9 months was associated with language scores at 12 and 18 months. These findings confirm that supporting emerging perceptual abilities during early sensitive periods impacts syllabic processing efficiency and aligns with literature demonstrating associations between infant auditory perceptual abilities and later language outcomes.

Acoustic-level and language-specific processing of native and non-native phonological sequence onsets in the low gamma and theta-frequency bands.

Acoustic structures associated with native-language phonological sequences are enhanced within auditory pathways for perception, although the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. To elucidate processes that facilitate perception, time-frequency (T-F) analyses of EEGs obtained from native speakers of English and Polish were conducted. Participants listened to same and different nonword pairs within counterbalanced attend and passive conditions. Nonwords contained the onsets /pt/, /pət/, /st/, and /sət/ that occur in both the Polish and English languages with the exception of /pt/, which never occurs in the English language in word onset. Measures of spectral power and inter-trial phase locking (ITPL) in the low gamma (LG) and theta-frequency bands were analyzed from two bilateral, auditory source-level channels, created through source localization modeling. Results revealed significantly larger spectral power in LG for the English listeners to the unfamiliar /pt/ onsets from the right hemisphere at early cortical stages, during the passive condition. Further, ITPL values revealed distinctive responses in high and low-theta to acoustic characteristics of the onsets, which were modulated by language exposure. These findings, language-specific processing in LG and acoustic-level and language-specific processing in theta, support the view that multi scale temporal processing in the LG and theta-frequency bands facilitates speech perception.

Modulation of Theta Phase Synchrony during Syllable Processing as a Function of Interactive Acoustic Experience in Infancy.

Plasticity, a prominent characteristic of the infant brain, supports formation of cortical representations as infants begin to interact with and adapt to environmental sensory events. Enhanced acoustic processing efficiency along with improved allocation of attentional resources at 7 months and establishment of well-defined phonemic maps at 9 months have been shown to be facilitated by early interactive acoustic experience (IAE). In this study, using an oddball paradigm and measures of theta phase synchrony at source level, we examined short- and long-term effects of nonspeech IAE on syllable processing. Results demonstrated that beyond maturation alone, IAE increased the efficiency of syllabic representation and discrimination, an effect that endured well beyond the immediate training period. As compared with naive controls, the IAE-trained group at 7, 9, and 18 months showed less theta phase synchrony for the standard syllable and at 7 and 18 months for the deviant syllable. The decreased theta phase synchrony exhibited by the trained group suggests more mature, efficient, acoustic processing, and thus, better cortical representation and discrimination of syllabic content. Further, the IAE modulatory effect observed on theta phase synchrony in left auditory cortex at 7 and 9 months was differentially associated with receptive and expressive language scores at 12 and 18 months of age.

Retraction Note to: Stability of neuronal avalanches and long-range temporal correlations during the first year of life in human infant.

The authors have retracted this article Jannesari et al. (2019) because an incorrect version of the article was published in error. The manuscript has been republished as Jannesari et al. (2020). All authors agree to this retraction.

Stability of neuronal avalanches and long-range temporal correlations during the first year of life in human infants.

During infancy, the human brain rapidly expands in size and complexity as neural networks mature and new information is incorporated at an accelerating pace. Recently, it was shown that single-electrode EEG in preterms at birth exhibits scale-invariant intermittent bursts. Yet, it is currently not known whether the normal infant brain, in particular, the cortex, maintains a distinct dynamical state during development that is characterized by scale-invariant spatial as well as temporal aspects. Here we employ dense-array EEG recordings acquired from the same infants at 6 and 12 months of age to characterize brain activity during an auditory odd-ball task. We show that suprathreshold events organize as spatiotemporal clusters whose size and duration are power-law distributed, the hallmark of neuronal avalanches. Time series of local suprathreshold EEG events display significant long-range temporal correlations (LRTCs). No differences were found between 6 and 12 months, demonstrating stability of avalanche dynamics and LRTCs during the first year after birth. These findings demonstrate that the infant brain is characterized by distinct spatiotemporal dynamical aspects that are in line with expectations of a critical cortical state. We suggest that critical state dynamics, which theory and experiments have shown to be beneficial for numerous aspects of information processing, are maintained by the infant brain to process an increasingly complex environment during development.

Stability of neuronal avalanches and long-range temporal correlations during the first year of life in human infant.

During infancy, the human brain rapidly expands in size and complexity as neural networks mature and new information is incorporated at an accelerating pace. Recently, it was shown that single electrode EEG in preterms at birth exhibits scale-invariant intermittent bursts. Yet, it is currently not known whether the normal infant brain, in particular, the cortex maintains a distinct dynamical state during development that is characterized by scale-invariant spatial as well as temporal aspects. Here we employ dense-array EEG recordings acquired from the same infants at 6 and 12 months of age to characterize brain activity during an auditory oddball task. We show that suprathreshold events organize as spatiotemporal clusters whose size and duration are power-law distributed, the hallmark of neuronal avalanches. Time series of local suprathreshold EEG events display significant long-range temporal correlations (LRTCs). No differences were found between 6 and 12 months, demonstrating stability of avalanche dynamics and LRTCs during the first year after birth. These findings demonstrate that the infant brain is characterized by distinct spatiotemporal dynamical aspects that are in line with expectations of a critical cortical state. We suggest that critical state dynamics, which theory and experiments have shown to be beneficial for numerous aspects of information processing, are maintained by the infant brain to process an increasingly complex environment during development.

Reduced left-lateralized pattern of event-related EEG oscillations in infants at familial risk for language and learning impairment.

The ability to rapidly discriminate successive auditory stimuli within tens-of-milliseconds is crucial for speech and language development, particularly in the first year of life. This skill, called Rapid Auditory Processing (RAP), is altered in infants at familial risk for language and learning impairment (LLI) and is a robust predictor of later language outcomes. In the present study, we investigate the neural substrates of RAP, i.e., the underlying neural oscillatory patterns, in a group of Italian 6-month-old infants at risk for LLI (FH+, n = 24), compared to control infants with no known family history of LLI (FH-, n = 32). Brain responses to rapid changes in fundamental frequency and duration were recorded via high-density electroencephalogram during a non-speech double oddball paradigm. Sources of event-related potential generators were localized to right and left auditory regions in both FH+ and FH- groups. Time-frequency analyses showed variations in both theta (Ɵ) and gamma (ɣ) ranges across groups. Our results showed that overall RAP stimuli elicited a more left-lateralized pattern of oscillations in FH- infants, whereas FH+ infants demonstrated a more right-lateralized pattern, in both the theta and gamma frequency bands. Interestingly, FH+ infants showed reduced early left gamma power (starting at 50 ms after stimulus onset) during deviant discrimination. Perturbed oscillatory dynamics may well constitute a candidate neural mechanism to explain group differences in RAP. Additional group differences in source location suggest that anatomical variations may underlie differences in oscillatory activity. Regarding the predictive value of early oscillatory measures, we found that the amplitude of the source response and the magnitude of oscillatory power and phase synchrony were predictive of expressive vocabulary at 20 months of age. These results further our understanding of the interplay among neural mechanisms that support typical and atypical rapid auditory processing in infancy.

Minimally-verbal children with autism show deficits in theta and gamma oscillations during processing of semantically-related visual information.

To acquire language, children must build phonemic representations of their native language, learn to associate auditory words to visual objects and assemble a lexicon. It is not clear however, whether the limited linguistic ability seen in minimally-verbal (MV) children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) relates to deficits in cortical representation of an object and/or in linking an object to its semantic information. This EEG-based study investigated neural mechanisms underlying visual processing of common objects in MV-ASD and control children. Ten MV-ASD children, 4- to 7- years-old and 15 age/gender-matched controls, were presented with a picture-word matching paradigm. Time-frequency analyses were conducted at the sources generating the event-related responses at both early and late visual processing. Permutation testing identified spectral power and phase coherence clusters that significantly differed between the groups. As compared to controls, MV-ASD children exhibited smaller amplitudes and longer source latencies; decreased gamma and theta power with less theta phase coherence in occipital regions, and reduced frontal gamma power. Our results confirm that visual processing is altered in MV-ASD children and suggest that some of the linguistic differences observed in these children arise from impaired object/label cortical representations and reduced allocation of attention, which would impact lexical acquisition.

Early Interactive Acoustic Experience with Non-speech Generalizes to Speech and Confers a Syllabic Processing Advantage at 9 Months.

During early development, the infant brain is highly plastic and sensory experiences modulate emerging cortical maps, enhancing processing efficiency as infants set up key linguistic precursors. Early interactive acoustic experience (IAE) with spectrotemporally-modulated non-speech has been shown to facilitate optimal acoustic processing and generalizes to novel non-speech sounds at 7-months-of-age. Here we demonstrate that effects of non-speech IAE endure well beyond the immediate training period and robustly generalize to speech processing. Infants who received non-speech IAE differed at 9-months-of-age from both naïve controls and those with only passive acoustic exposure, demonstrating broad modulation of oscillatory dynamics. For the standard syllable, increased high-gamma (>70 Hz) power within auditory cortices indicates that IAE fosters native speech processing, facilitating establishment of phonemic representations. The higher left beta power seen may reflect increased linking of sensory information and corresponding articulatory patterns, while bilateral decreases in theta power suggest more mature automatized speech processing, as less neuronal resources were allocated to process syllabic information. For the deviant syllable, left-lateralized gamma (<70 Hz) enhancement suggests IAE promotes phonemic-related discrimination abilities. Theta power increases in right auditory cortex, known for favoring slow-rate decoding, implies IAE facilitates the more demanding processing of the sporadic deviant syllable.

Effects of noise and age on the infant brainstem response to speech.

OBJECTIVE: Background noise makes hearing speech difficult for people of all ages. This difficulty can be exacerbated by co-occurring developmental deficits that often emerge in childhood. Sentence-type speech-in-noise (SIN) tests are available clinically but cannot be administered to very young individuals. Our objective was to examine the use of an electrophysiological test of SIN, suitable for infants, to track developmental trajectories. METHODS: Speech-evoked brainstem potentials were recorded from 30 typically-developing infants in quiet and +10 dB SNR background noise. Infants were divided into two age groups (7-12 and 18-24 months) and examined across development. Spectral power of the frequency following response (FFR) was computed using a fast Fourier Transform. Cross-correlations between quiet and noise responses were computed to measure encoding resistance to noise. RESULTS: Older infants had more robust FFR encoding in noise and had higher quiet-noise correlations than their younger counterparts. No group differences were observed in the quiet condition. CONCLUSIONS: By two years of age, infants show less vulnerability to the disruptive effects of background noise, compared to infants under 12 months. SIGNIFICANCE: Speech-in-noise electrophysiology can be easily recorded across infancy and provides unique insights into developmental differences that tests conducted in quiet may miss.

From CNTNAP2 to Early Expressive Language in Infancy: The Mediation Role of Rapid Auditory Processing.

Although it is clear that early language acquisition can be a target of CNTNAP2, the pathway between gene and language is still largely unknown. This research focused on the mediation role of rapid auditory processing (RAP). We tested RAP at 6 months of age by the use of event-related potentials, as a mediator between common variants of the CNTNAP2 gene (rs7794745 and rs2710102) and 20-month-old language outcome in a prospective longitudinal study of 96 Italian infants. The mediation model examines the hypothesis that language outcome is explained by a sequence of effects involving RAP and CNTNAP2. The ability to discriminate spectrotemporally complex auditory frequency changes at 6 months of age mediates the contribution of rs2710102 to expressive vocabulary at 20 months. The indirect effect revealed that rs2710102 C/C was associated with lower P3 amplitude in the right hemisphere, which, in turn, predicted poorer expressive vocabulary at 20 months of age. These findings add to a growing body of literature implicating RAP as a viable marker in genetic studies of language development. The results demonstrate a potential developmental cascade of effects, whereby CNTNAP2 drives RAP functioning that, in turn, contributes to early expressive outcome.

A Modulatory Effect of Brief Passive Exposure to Non-linguistic Sounds on Intrinsic Functional Connectivity: Relevance to Cognitive Performance.

A growing literature on resting-state fMRI (R-fMRI) has explored the impact of preceding sensory experience on intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC). However, it remains largely unknown how passive exposure to irrelevant auditory stimuli, which is a constant in everyday life, reconfigures iFC. Here, we directly compared pre- and post-exposure R-fMRI scans to examine: 1) modulatory effects of brief passive exposure to repeating non-linguistic sounds on subsequent iFC, and 2) associations between iFC modulations and cognitive abilities. We used an exploratory regional homogeneity (ReHo) approach that indexes local iFC, and performed a linear mixed-effects modeling analysis. A modulatory effect (increase) in ReHo was observed in the right superior parietal lobule (R.SPL) within the parietal attention network. Post hoc seed-based correlation analyses provided further evidence for increased parietal iFC (e.g., R.SPL with the right inferior parietal lobule). Notably, less iFC modulation was associated with better cognitive performance (e.g., word reading). These results suggest that: 1) the parietal attention network dynamically reconfigures its iFC in response to passive (thus irrelevant) non-linguistic sounds, but also 2) minimization of iFC modulation in the same network characterizes better cognitive performance. Our findings may open up new avenues for investigating cognitive disorders that involve impaired sensory processing.

Active auditory experience in infancy promotes brain plasticity in Theta and Gamma oscillations.

Language acquisition in infants is driven by on-going neural plasticity that is acutely sensitive to environmental acoustic cues. Recent studies showed that attention-based experience with non-linguistic, temporally-modulated auditory stimuli sharpens cortical responses. A previous ERP study from this laboratory showed that interactive auditory experience via behavior-based feedback (AEx), over a 6-week period from 4- to 7-months-of-age, confers a processing advantage, compared to passive auditory exposure (PEx) or maturation alone (Naïve Control, NC). Here, we provide a follow-up investigation of the underlying neural oscillatory patterns in these three groups. In AEx infants, Standard stimuli with invariant frequency (STD) elicited greater Theta-band (4-6Hz) activity in Right Auditory Cortex (RAC), as compared to NC infants, and Deviant stimuli with rapid frequency change (DEV) elicited larger responses in Left Auditory Cortex (LAC). PEx and NC counterparts showed less-mature bilateral patterns. AEx infants also displayed stronger Gamma (33-37Hz) activity in the LAC during DEV discrimination, compared to NCs, while NC and PEx groups demonstrated bilateral activity in this band, if at all. This suggests that interactive acoustic experience with non-linguistic stimuli can promote a distinct, robust and precise cortical pattern during rapid auditory processing, perhaps reflecting mechanisms that support fine-tuning of early acoustic mapping.

Oscillatory Dynamics Underlying Perceptual Narrowing of Native Phoneme Mapping from 6 to 12 Months of Age.

During the first months of life, human infants process phonemic elements from all languages similarly. However, by 12 months of age, as language-specific phonemic maps are established, infants respond preferentially to their native language. This process, known as perceptual narrowing, supports neural representation and thus efficient processing of the distinctive phonemes within the sound environment. Although oscillatory mechanisms underlying processing of native and non-native phonemic contrasts were recently delineated in 6-month-old infants, the maturational trajectory of these mechanisms remained unclear. A group of typically developing infants born into monolingual English families, were followed from 6 to 12 months and presented with English and Spanish syllable contrasts varying in voice-onset time. Brain responses were recorded with high-density electroencephalogram, and sources of event-related potential generators identified at right and left auditory cortices at 6 and 12 months and also at frontal cortex at 6 months. Time-frequency analyses conducted at source level found variations in both θ and γ ranges across age. Compared with 6-month-olds, 12-month-olds' responses to native phonemes showed smaller and faster phase synchronization and less spectral power in the θ range, and increases in left phase synchrony as well as induced high-γ activity in both frontal and left auditory sources. These results demonstrate that infants become more automatized and efficient in processing their native language as they approach 12 months of age via the interplay between θ and γ oscillations. We suggest that, while θ oscillations support syllable processing, γ oscillations underlie phonemic perceptual narrowing, progressively favoring mapping of native over non-native language across the first year of life. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: During early language acquisition, typically developing infants gradually construct phonemic maps of their native language in auditory cortex. It is well known that, by 12 months of age, human infants move from universal discrimination of most linguistic phonemic contrasts to phonemic expertise in their native language. This perceptual narrowing occurs at the expense of the ability to process non-native phonemes. However, the neural mechanisms underlying this process are still poorly understood. Here we demonstrate that perceptual narrowing is, at least in part, accomplished by decreasing power and phase coherence in the θ range while increasing activity in high-γ in left auditory cortex. Understanding the normative neural mechanisms that support early language acquisition is crucial to understanding and perhaps ameliorating developmental language disorders.

From Sensory Perception to Lexical-Semantic Processing: An ERP Study in Non-Verbal Children with Autism.

This study examines electrocortical activity associated with visual and auditory sensory perception and lexical-semantic processing in nonverbal (NV) or minimally-verbal (MV) children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Currently, there is no agreement on whether these children comprehend incoming linguistic information and whether their perception is comparable to that of typically developing children. Event-related potentials (ERPs) of 10 NV/MV children with ASD and 10 neurotypical children were recorded during a picture-word matching paradigm. Atypical ERP responses were evident at all levels of processing in children with ASD. Basic perceptual processing was delayed in both visual and auditory domains but overall was similar in amplitude to typically-developing children. However, significant differences between groups were found at the lexical-semantic level, suggesting more atypical higher-order processes. The results suggest that although basic perception is relatively preserved in NV/MV children with ASD, higher levels of processing, including lexical- semantic functions, are impaired. The use of passive ERP paradigms that do not require active participant response shows significant potential for assessment of non-compliant populations such as NV/MV children with ASD.

New Perspectives on Spontaneous Brain Activity: Dynamic Networks and Energy Matter.

Spontaneous brain activity has received increasing attention as demonstrated by the exponential rise in the number of published article on this topic over the last 30 years. Such "intrinsic" brain activity, generated in the absence of an explicit task, is frequently associated with resting-state or default-mode networks (DMN)s. The focus on characterizing spontaneous brain activity promises to shed new light on questions concerning the structural and functional architecture of the brain and how they are related to "mind". However, many critical questions have yet to be addressed. In this review, we focus on a scarcely explored area, specifically the energetic requirements and constraints of spontaneous activity, taking into account both thermodynamical and informational perspectives. We argue that the "classical" definitions of spontaneous activity do not take into account an important feature, that is, the critical thermodynamic energetic differences between spontaneous and evoked brain activity. Spontaneous brain activity is associated with slower oscillations compared with evoked, task-related activity, hence it exhibits lower levels of enthalpy and "free-energy" (i.e., the energy that can be converted to do work), thus supporting noteworthy thermodynamic energetic differences between spontaneous and evoked brain activity. Increased spike frequency during evoked activity has a significant metabolic cost, consequently, brain functions traditionally associated with spontaneous activity, such as mind wandering, require less energy that other nervous activities. We also review recent empirical observations in neuroscience, in order to capture how spontaneous brain dynamics and mental function can be embedded in a non-linear dynamical framework, which considers nervous activity in terms of phase spaces, particle trajectories, random walks, attractors and/or paths at the edge of the chaos. This takes us from the thermodynamic free-energy, to the realm of "variational free-energy", a theoretical construct pertaining to probability and information theory which allows explanation of unexplored features of spontaneous brain activity.

Auditory discrimination predicts linguistic outcome in Italian infants with and without familial risk for language learning impairment.

Infants' ability to discriminate between auditory stimuli presented in rapid succession and differing in fundamental frequency (Rapid Auditory Processing [RAP] abilities) has been shown to be anomalous in infants at familial risk for Language Learning Impairment (LLI) and to predict later language outcomes. This study represents the first attempt to investigate RAP in Italian infants at risk for LLI (FH+), examining two critical acoustic features: frequency and duration, both embedded in a rapidly-presented acoustic environment. RAP skills of 24 FH+ and 32 control (FH-) Italian 6-month-old infants were characterized via EEG/ERP using a multi-feature oddball paradigm. Outcome measures of expressive vocabulary were collected at 20 months. Group differences favoring FH- infants were identified: in FH+ infants, the latency of the N2* peak was delayed and the mean amplitude of the positive mismatch response was reduced, primarily for frequency discrimination and within the right hemisphere. Moreover, both EEG measures were correlated with language scores at 20 months. Results indicate that RAP abilities are atypical in Italian infants with a first-degree relative affected by LLI and that this impacts later linguistic skills. These findings provide a compelling cross-linguistic comparison with previous research on American infants, supporting the biological unity hypothesis of LLI.

Automatic classification of 6-month-old infants at familial risk for language-based learning disorder using a support vector machine.

OBJECTIVES: This study assesses the ability of a novel, "automatic classification" approach to facilitate identification of infants at highest familial risk for language-learning disorders (LLD) and to provide converging assessments to enable earlier detection of developmental disorders that disrupt language acquisition. METHODS: Network connectivity measures derived from 62-channel electroencephalogram (EEG) recording were used to identify selected features within two infant groups who differed on LLD risk: infants with a family history of LLD (FH+) and typically-developing infants without such a history (FH-). A support vector machine was deployed; global efficiency and global and local clustering coefficients were computed. A novel minimum spanning tree (MST) approach was also applied. Cross-validation was employed to assess the resultant classification. RESULTS: Infants were classified with about 80% accuracy into FH+ and FH- groups with 89% specificity and precision of 92%. Clustering patterns differed by risk group and MST network analysis suggests that FH+ infants' EEG complexity patterns were significantly different from FH- infants. CONCLUSIONS: The automatic classification techniques used here were shown to be both robust and reliable and should provide valuable information when applied to early identification of risk or clinical groups. SIGNIFICANCE: The ability to identify infants at highest risk for LLD using "automatic classification" strategies is a novel convergent approach that may facilitate earlier diagnosis and remediation.

ICA-derived cortical responses indexing rapid multi-feature auditory processing in six-month-old infants.

The abilities of infants to perceive basic acoustic differences, essential for language development, can be studied using auditory event-related potentials (ERPs). However, scalp-channel averaged ERPs sum volume-conducted contributions from many cortical areas, reducing the functional specificity and interpretability of channel-based ERP measures. This study represents the first attempt to investigate rapid auditory processing in infancy using independent component analysis (ICA), allowing exploration of source-resolved ERP dynamics and identification of ERP cortical generators. Here, we recorded 60-channel EEG data in 34 typically developing 6-month-old infants during a passive acoustic oddball paradigm presenting 'standard' tones interspersed with frequency- or duration-deviant tones. ICA decomposition was applied to single-subject EEG data. The best-fitting equivalent dipole or bilaterally symmetric dipole pair was then estimated for each resulting independent component (IC) process using a four-layer infant head model. Similar brain-source ICs were clustered across subjects. Results showed ERP contributions from auditory cortex and multiple extra-auditory cortical areas (often, bilaterally paired). Different cortical source combinations contributed to the frequency- and duration-deviant ERP peak sequences. For ICs in an ERP-dominant source cluster located in or near the mid-cingulate cortex, source-resolved frequency-deviant response N2 latency and P3 amplitude at 6 months-of-age predicted vocabulary size at 20 months-of-age. The same measures for scalp channel F6 (though not for other frontal channels) showed similar but weaker correlations. These results demonstrate the significant potential of ICA analyses to facilitate a deeper understanding of the neural substrates of infant sensory processing.

Electrocortical Dynamics in Children with a Language-Learning Impairment Before and After Audiovisual Training.

Detecting and discriminating subtle and rapid sound changes in the speech environment is a fundamental prerequisite of language processing, and deficits in this ability have frequently been observed in individuals with language-learning impairments (LLI). One approach to studying associations between dysfunctional auditory dynamics and LLI, is to implement a training protocol tapping into this potential while quantifying pre- and post-intervention status. Event-related potentials (ERPs) are highly sensitive to the brain correlates of these dynamic changes and are therefore ideally suited for examining hypotheses regarding dysfunctional auditory processes. In this study, ERP measurements to rapid tone sequences (standard and deviant tone pairs) along with behavioral language testing were performed in 6- to 9-year-old LLI children (n = 21) before and after audiovisual training. A non-treatment group of children with typical language development (n = 12) was also assessed twice at a comparable time interval. The results indicated that the LLI group exhibited considerable gains on standardized measures of language. In terms of ERPs, we found evidence of changes in the LLI group specifically at the level of the P2 component, later than 250 ms after the onset of the second stimulus in the deviant tone pair. These changes suggested enhanced discrimination of deviant from standard tone sequences in widespread cortices, in LLI children after training.