Background Language delay affects near- and long-term social communication and learning in toddlers, and, an increasing number of experts pay attention to it. The development of prosody discrimination is one of the earliest stages of language development in which key skills for later stages are mastered. Therefore, analyzing the relationship between brain discrimination of speech prosody and language abilities may provide an objective basis for the diagnosis and intervention of language delay. Methods In this study, all cases(n = 241) were enrolled from a tertiary women's hospital, from 2021 to 2022. We used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to assess children's neural prosody discrimination abilities, and a Chinese communicative development inventory (CCDI) were used to evaluate their language abilities. Results Ninety-eight full-term and 108 preterm toddlers were included in the final analysis in phase I and II studies, respectively. The total CCDI screening abnormality rate was 9.2% for full-term and 34.3% for preterm toddlers. Full-term toddlers showed prosody discrimination ability in all channels except channel 5, while preterm toddlers showed prosody discrimination ability in channel 6 only. Multifactorial logistic regression analyses showed that prosody discrimination of the right angular gyrus (channel 3) had a statistically significant effect on language delay (odd ratio = 0.301, P < 0.05) in full-term toddlers. Random forest (RF) regression model presented that prosody discrimination reflected by channels and brain regions based on fNIRS data was an important parameter for predicting language delay in preterm toddlers, among which the prosody discrimination reflected by the right angular gyrus (channel 4) was the most important parameter. The area under the model Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.687. Conclusions Neural prosody discrimination ability is positively associated with language development, assessment of brain prosody discrimination abilities through fNIRS could be used as an objective indicator for early identification of children with language delay in the future clinical application.

OBJECTIVES:To investigate the association between auditory processing and problem behaviors in preschool children, as well as the mediating role of executive function.METHODS:A total of 2 342 preschool children were selected from 7 kindergartens in Nanjing, China from June to August 2021. They were evaluated using Preschool Auditory Processing Assessment Scale, Conners Parent Symptom Questionnaire, and Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning-Preschool version. Children with different demographic features were compared in the scores and the abnormality rates of auditory processing, problem behaviors, and executive function. The influencing factors of the total scores of auditory processing, problem behaviors, and executive function were evaluated using multiple linear regression analysis. Whether executive function was a mediating factor between auditory processing and executive function was examined.RESULTS:Sex and grade were the main influencing factors for the total score of auditory processing (P<0.05), and sex, grade, parental education level, and family economic status were the main influencing factors for the total scores of problem behaviors and executive function (P<0.05). The auditory processing score (rs=0.458, P<0.05) and problem behavior score (rs=0.185, P<0.05) were significantly positively correlated with the executive function score, and the auditory processing score was significantly positively correlated with the problem behavior score (rs=0.423, P<0.05). Executive function played a partial mediating role between auditory processing and problem behaviors, and the mediating effect accounted for 33.44% of the total effect.CONCLUSIONS:Auditory processing can directly affect the problem behaviors of preschool children and indirectly affect problem behaviors through executive function.

The development of speech is a process by which the neural network structure of brain perceives, decodes, represents, and outputs input signals. At the cortical level, the classic model of speech processing proposed two pathways leading from the auditory system: the ventral stream and the dorsal stream.The ventral stream, which involved structures in the superior and middle portions of the temporal lobe, was involved in processing speech signals for perception and comprehension (speech recognition). The dorsal stream, which involved structures in the posterior frontal lobe and the posterior dorsal-most aspect of the temporal lobe and parietal operculum, had an auditory-motor integration function and was essential for speech production. However, the importance of auditory processing in central auditory nervous system(CANS) from the vestibulocochlear nerve to the auditory cortex for speech development had not been clarified.This review aims to discuss the roles and related mechanisms of the CANS in speech recognition and generation from the perspective of cognitive neuroscience, so as to provide new ideas for clinical monitoring and long-term prediction of auditory processing and speech development, and for diagnosis and treatment of clinical speech-related diseases.

OBJECTIVES:To investigate the characteristics of auditory processing (AP) in preschool children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) using Preschool Auditory Processing Assessment Scale (hereafter referred to as "auditory processing scale").METHODS:A total of 41 children with ADHD and 41 typically developing (TD) children were assessed using the auditory processing scale, SNAP-IV rating scale, and Conners' Kiddie Continuous Performance Test (K-CPT). The auditory processing scale score was compared between the TD and ADHD groups. The correlations of the score with SNAP-IV and K-CPT scores were assessed.RESULTS:Compared with the TD group, the ADHD group had significantly higher total score of the auditory processing scale and scores of all dimensions except visual attention (P<0.05). In the children with ADHD, the attention deficit dimension score of the SNAP-IV rating scale was positively correlated with the total score of the auditory processing scale (rs30=0.531, P<0.05; rs27=0.627, P<0.05) as well as the scores of its subdimensions, including auditory decoding (rs=0.628, P<0.05), auditory attention (rs=0.492, P<0.05), and communication (rs=0.399, P<0.05). The hyperactivity-impulsivity dimension score of the SNAP-IV rating scale was positively correlated with the hyperactivity-impulsivity dimension score of the auditory processing scale (rs=0.429, P<0.05). In the children with ADHD, the attention deficit dimension score of the K-CPT was positively correlated with the total score (rs30=0.574, P<0.05; rs27=0.485, P<0.05) and the hyperactivity-impulsivity dimension score (rs=0.602, P<0.05) of the auditory processing scale.CONCLUSIONS:Preschool children with ADHD have the risk of AP abnormalities, and the auditory processing scale should be used early for the screening and evaluation of AP abnormalities in children.

目的 探讨南京市3～6岁学龄前儿童的听处理发展特征及其影响因素,为促进学龄前儿童听处理发展提供线索.方法 2021年6-7月采用分层随机整群抽样法,随机抽取南京市4所幼儿园在园的3～6岁儿童1 311例,利用自制的基本信息问卷及《学龄前儿童听处理评估量表》对儿童的听处理特征及影响因素进行调查分析.结果 回收有效问卷1 234份,男生和女生的听处理量表总分分别为49.01+12.70和47.26±12.16,差异有统计学意义(t=2.469,P＜0.05).随着年龄增长,听处理量表总分均值逐渐降低,差异有统计学意义(F=2.909,P＜0.05).多重线性回归分析显示,性别(β=-1.169)、年龄(β=-0.976)、是否患有其他神经发育障碍性疾病(β=-10.849)以及每天接触电子屏幕时长(β=1.432)是听处理异常的主要影响因素(P＜0.05).男童、年龄越小、患有神经发育障碍性疾病、每天接触电子屏幕时间越长,听处理异常风险越高.结论 儿童听处理能力受性别、年龄、是否患有神经发育障碍性疾病以及电子屏幕使用时间的影响,应当提升对学龄前儿童听处理发展的关注,早期识别听处理异常,并给予有效的医学干预.