Words Listening Related Electroencephalography Spectrum Perturbations in Normally Developing Children and Sensory Alalia Children

Abstract

The analysis of electroencephalography (EEG) event related spectrum perturbations in 23 normally developing and 23 sensory alalia children of age between 4 and 10 years old during listening to nouns is conducted. In EEG θ-frequency range of healthy children, synchronization was detected in the frontal, central, and temporal leads, and desynchronization was found in most leads in children with sensory alalia. Intergroup differences in the reactivity of the EEG θ-range reached the level of statistical significance in C4 lead. In the α‑range, EEG desynchronization was observed in typically developing children, and synchronization was observed in children with sensory alalia. Differences in the α-activity power reached the level of statistical significance in leads C3, F3, P3, O1. An EEG θ-band synchronization decrease during words listening in children with sensory alalia may reflect an impairment of retrieving words from memory and less emotional involvement in the speech perception process, while the absence of α-activity desynchronization in the central leads is a impairment of the functioning of sensorimotor neural networks, involved in the speech perception and generation. The revealed features of EEG reactivity are important for understanding the central speech perception mechanisms in normal children, as well as in children with disorders such as sensory alalia.