Latent Class Analysis Reveals Distinct Groups Based on Executive Function and Socioemotional Traits, Developmental Conditions, and Stuttering: A Population Study.

A growing body of research has reported associations between weaker Executive Functions (EF), the set capacities that are needed to manage and allocate one's cognitive resources during cognitively challenging activities and various neurodevelopmental conditions, including stuttering. The majority of this research has been based on variable-centered approaches, which have the potential to obscure within-population heterogeneity. Person-centered analyses are essential to understanding multifactorial disorders where relationships between indicators have been elusive, such as stuttering. The current study addressed gaps in the literature by using latent class analysis (LCA), a person-centered approach, to identify homogenous subgroups within the National Health Interview Survey (2004-2018) publicly available data set. Using this exploratory approach, we examined the hypothesis that there exist distinct classes (or subgroups) of children based on parent reports of EF, Socioemotional (SE) traits, developmental atypicality, and stuttering. Our analyses revealed distinct subgroups with substantially different likelihoods of parent-reported stuttering behaviors and developmental atypicality. For children with both EF and SE difficulties, the likelihood of parental report of stuttering and atypical development was even higher, in fact this likelihood (of stuttering and not-typically developing) was highest among all subgroups. In contrast, children without difficulties were the least likely to be reported with stuttering or not-typically developing. Our findings are consistent with theoretical frameworks for stuttering, which cite EF as a crucial component in the disorder. Additionally, our findings suggest within-population heterogeneity among children with EF difficulties and, specifically, EF and SE heterogeneity among children who stutter.

Disfluencies in English Speech Produced by Spanish-English Bilinguals.

BACKGROUND: Fluency and disfluency exist on a continuum of speech production.Typically fluent speakers produce varying numbers of disfluencies; this number increases in stressful or cognitively demanding situations. Prior research indicates that adult second language learners produce more disfluencies in their weaker, second language, however, this has not been explored among heritage bilinguals who developed in both languages during childhood. There is a lack of foundational knowledge regarding disfluencies among typically fluent adult bilinguals; typical fluency patterns are likely influenced by bidirectional relationships between languages. These patterns may be viewed as disfluencies by listeners who generally perceive disfluencies unfavorably. OBJECTIVES: The current study explores the quantity and types of disfluencies produced by bilinguals. METHODS: Twenty Spanish-English bilinguals took part in a simulated job interview. Responses were transcribed and the total number and percent of disfluencies were calculated. RESULTS: The findings indicated that typically fluent Spanish-English bilingual adults produce 6.99 typical (nonstuttered) disfluencies per 100 words and are therefore within the range of normative data on monolingual adults (5.1-10.99 per 100 words). The 2 most common disfluencies were superfluous verbal behaviors and pauses. CONCLUSIONS: The findings revealed that typically fluent Spanish-English bilingual adult participants produced more fixed postures than previously reported among monolingual English speakers.

Atypical Sulcal Pattern in Children with Developmental Dyslexia and At-Risk Kindergarteners.

Developmental dyslexia (DD) is highly heritable and previous studies observed reduced cortical volume, white matter integrity, and functional alterations in left posterior brain regions in individuals with DD. The primary sulcal pattern has been hypothesized to relate to optimal organization and connections of cortical functional areas. It is determined during prenatal development and may reflect early, genetically influenced, brain development. We characterize the sulcal pattern using graph-based pattern analysis and investigate whether sulcal patterns in parieto-temporal and occipito-temporal regions are atypical in elementary school-age children with DD and pre-readers/beginning readers (preschoolers/kindergarteners) with a familial risk (elementary school-age children: n [males/females], age range = 17/11, 84-155 months; preschoolers/kindergarteners: 16/15, 59-84 months). The pattern of sulcal basin area in left parieto-temporal and occipito-temporal regions was significantly atypical (more sulcal basins of smaller size) in children with DD and further correlated with reduced reading performance on single- and nonword reading measures. A significantly atypical sulcal area pattern was also confirmed in younger preschoolers/kindergarteners with a familial risk of DD. Our results provide further support for atypical early brain development in DD and suggest that DD may originate from altered organization or connections of cortical areas in the left posterior regions.

Bilingual children who stutter: Convergence, gaps and directions for research.

PURPOSE: The aim of this systematic review is to examine the early interactions between bilingualism and stuttering to synthesize knowledge that could inform diagnosis and treatment for bilingual children who stutter. METHOD: Scopus, Science Direct, PubMed, ERIC Ebsco, and Google Scholar were searched with no limits placed on the year of publication. Search terms consisted of: ("stuttering" [MeSH] OR "stutter") AND ("child" [MeSH] OR "children") AND ("multilingualism" [MeSH] OR "bilingualism"). Inclusion criteria were children who stutter, bilinguals who stutter, empirical research articles, and published in peer review journals. Exclusion criteria were studies that reported on only adults, only monolinguals, or were not published in English. RESULTS: A total of 50 articles met the criteria. There was convergence with monolingual studies reporting sexually dimorphic and familial trends in the prevalence of stuttering and rates of recovery. Findings surrounding language proficiency, cross-linguistic stuttering severity, and development were ambivalent. Results point to the difficulty in identifying stuttering in bilingual children, and the need for culturally competent research and interpretations. CONCLUSION: Current findings offer a fragmented view of bilingual development and echoes a recurring theme, i.e., the current understanding of bilingualism and stuttering is limited and more research is warranted.

Associations between stuttering, comorbid conditions and executive function in children: a population-based study.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between executive function (EF), stuttering, and comorbidity by examining children who stutter (CWS) and children who do not stutter (CWNS) with and without comorbid conditions. Data from the National Health Interview Survey were used to examine behavioral manifestations of EF, such as inattention and self-regulation, in CWS and CWNS. METHODS: The sample included 2258 CWS (girls = 638, boys = 1620), and 117,725 CWNS (girls = 57,512; boys = 60,213). EF, and the presence of stuttering and comorbid conditions were based on parent report. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the distribution of stuttering and comorbidity across group and sex. Regression analyses were to determine the effects of stuttering and comorbidity on EF, and the relationship between EF and socioemotional competence. RESULTS: Results point to weaker EF in CWS compared to CWNS. Also, having comorbid conditions was also associated with weaker EF. CWS with comorbidity showed the weakest EF compared to CWNS with and without comorbidity, and CWS without comorbidity. Children with stronger EF showed higher socioemotional competence. A majority (60.32%) of CWS had at least one other comorbid condition in addition to stuttering. Boys who stutter were more likely to have comorbid conditions compared to girls who stutter. CONCLUSION: Present findings suggest that comorbidity is a common feature in CWS. Stuttering and comorbid conditions negatively impact EF.

Investigating the neural correlates of voice versus speech-sound directed information in pre-school children.

Studies in sleeping newborns and infants propose that the superior temporal sulcus is involved in speech processing soon after birth. Speech processing also implicitly requires the analysis of the human voice, which conveys both linguistic and extra-linguistic information. However, due to technical and practical challenges when neuroimaging young children, evidence of neural correlates of speech and/or voice processing in toddlers and young children remains scarce. In the current study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in 20 typically developing preschool children (average age  = 5.8 y; range 5.2-6.8 y) to investigate brain activation during judgments about vocal identity versus the initial speech sound of spoken object words. FMRI results reveal common brain regions responsible for voice-specific and speech-sound specific processing of spoken object words including bilateral primary and secondary language areas of the brain. Contrasting voice-specific with speech-sound specific processing predominantly activates the anterior part of the right-hemispheric superior temporal sulcus. Furthermore, the right STS is functionally correlated with left-hemispheric temporal and right-hemispheric prefrontal regions. This finding underlines the importance of the right superior temporal sulcus as a temporal voice area and indicates that this brain region is specialized, and functions similarly to adults by the age of five. We thus extend previous knowledge of voice-specific regions and their functional connections to the young brain which may further our understanding of the neuronal mechanism of speech-specific processing in children with developmental disorders, such as autism or specific language impairments.