Jonathan L. Preston|Stephen J. Frost|W. Einar Mencl|Robert K. Fulbright|Nicole Landi|Elena L. Grigorenko|Leslie K. Jacobsen|Kenneth R. Pugh
Early and late talkers: school-age language, literacy and neurolinguistic differences
Haskins Laboratories|Haskins Laboratories|Haskins Laboratories|Haskins Laboratories|Yale University|Haskins Laboratories|Yale University|Yale University|Haskins Laboratories|Haskins Laboratories|Yale University
early language development sets stage lifetime competence language literacy however neural mechanisms associated relative advantages early communication success disadvantages delayed language development well explored study 174 elementary schoolage children whose parents reported started forming sentences early ontime late evaluated standardized measures language reading spelling oral written language measures revealed consistent patterns early talkers highest level performance late talkers lowest level performance report functional magnetic resonance imaging data subset early ontime late talkers matched age gender performance intelligence quotient allows evaluation neural activation patterns produced listening reading real words pronounceable nonwords activation bilateral thalamus putamen left insula superior temporal gyrus tasks significantly lower late talkers demonstrating residual effects late talker found behavioural tests oral written language also distributed corticalsubcortical neural circuits underlying speech print processing moreover findings suggest age functional language acquisition longreaching effects reading language behaviour corresponding neurocircuitry supports linguistic function schoolage years