Kognitive Funktionen bei Sprachentwicklungsstörungen im Vorschulalter

Ein wachsender Bereich der Forschung hat sich auf Exekutivfunktionen bei Kindern mit spezifischer Sprachentwicklungsstörung (SSES) konzentriert. Allerdings zeigen bisherige Ergebnisse eine begrenzte Konvergenz, insbesondere bei Kindern im Vorschulalter. In der vorliegenden neuropsychologischen Studie wurden daher kognitive Funktionen bei Vorschulkindern mit SSES im Vergleich zu einer gesunden Kontrollgruppe untersucht. Die Ergebnisse machen deutlich: Kinder mit SSES weisen im Vergleich zur Kontrollgruppe signifikante Einschränkungen hinsichtlich des phonologischen Arbeitsgedächtnisses auf. Zudem konnten bei ihnen tendenziell schwächere Leistungen in der Inhibition und Verarbeitungsgeschwindigkeit festgestellt werden. Dies qualifiziert das phonologische Arbeitsgedächtnis als zuverlässigen Marker für die Erkennung von SSES bereits im Vorschulalter.

Abstract

Objective A growing body of research has focused on executive functions in children with specific language impairment (SLI). However, results show limited convergence, particularly in preschool age. The current neuropsychological study compared performance of cognitive functions in preschool children with SLI to typically developing controls.

Method The monolingual, Caucasian study sample consisted of 30 children with SLI (8 girls, 22 boys; mean age = 63.3 months, standard deviation = 4.3 months) and 30 healthy controls (17 girls, 13 boys; mean age = 62.2 months, standard deviation = 3.7 months). Groups were matched for age and nonverbal IQ. Socioeconomic status of the participating families was included. Nonparametric tests were used in order to analyze group differences.

Results Children with SLI had significantly poorer abilities of phonological short-term memory than matched controls. A tendency of poorer abilities in the SLI group was found for inhibition and processing speed.

Conclusions We confirmed phonological short-term memory to be a reliable marker of SLI in preschoolers. Our results do not give definite support for impaired executive function in SLI, possibly owing to limited sensitivity of test instruments in this age group. We argue for a standardization of executive function tests for research use.

Schlüsselwörter

spezifische Sprachentwicklungsstörung - Vorschulkinder - kognitive Funktionen - Exekutivfunktionen - kognitive Flexibilität

Keywords

specific language impairment - preschool children - cognitive functions - executive functions - cognitive flexibility

• Literatur

• 1 Reichenbach K, Bastian L, Rohrbach S. et al. Cognitive functions in preschool children with specific language impairment. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol 2016; 86: 22-26
• 2 Tomblin JB, Records NL, Buckwalter P. et al. Prevalence of specific language impairment in kindergarten children. J Speech Lang Hear Res 1997; 40: 1245-1260
• 3 American Psychiatric Association. DSM-IV-TR: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Text Revision. American Psychiatric Association; 2000
• 4 Dilling H, Mombour W, Schmidt MH. Internationale Klassifikation psychischer Störungen – ICD-10, Kapitel V (F) Klinisch-diagnostische Leitlinien. 8. Aufl. Bern: Huber; 2011
• 5 Badcock NA, Bishop DVM, Hardiman MJ. et al. Co-localisation of abnormal brain structure and function in specific language impairment. Brain Lang 2012; 120: 310-320
• 6 de Guibert C, Maumet C, Jannin P. et al. Abnormal functional lateralization and activity of language brain areas in typical specific language impairment (developmental dysphasia). Brain 2011; 134: 3044-3058
• 7 Mayes AK, Reilly S, Morgan AT. Neural correlates of childhood language disorder: a systematic review. Dev Med Child Neurol 2015; 57: 706-717
• 8 Bishop DVM, Norbury CF. Executive functions in children with communication impairments, in relation to autistic symptomatology. 2: response inhibition. Autism 2005; 9: 29-43
• 9 Henry LA, Messer DJ, Nash G. Executive functioning in children with specific language impairment. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2001; 53: 37-45
• 10 Im-Bolter N, Johnson J, Pascual-Leone J. Processing limitations in children with specific language impairment: the role of executive function. Child Dev 2006; 77: 1822-1841
• 11 Weyandt LL, Willis WG. Executive functions in school-aged children – potential efficacy of tasks in discriminating clinical groups. Dev Neuropsychol 1994; 10: 27-38
• 12 Montgomery JW, Magimairaj BM, Finney MC. Working memory and specific language impairment: an update on the relation and perspectives on assessment and treatment. Am J Speech Lang Pathol 2010; 19: 78-94
• 13 Vugs B, Hendriks M, Cuperus J. et al. Working memory performance and executive function behaviors in young children with SLI. Res Dev Disabil 2014; 35: 62-74
• 14 Best JR, Miller PH. A developmental perspective on executive function. Child Dev 2010; 81: 1641-1660
• 15 Garon N, Bryson SE, Smith IM. Executive function in preschoolers: a review using an integrative framework. Psychol Bull 2008; 134: 31-60
• 16 Huizinga M, Dolan CV, van der Molen MW. Age-related change in executive function: developmental trends and a latent variable analysis. Neuropsychologia 2006; 44: 2017-2036
• 17 Miyake A, Friedman NP, Emerson MJ. et al. The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex “frontal lobe” tasks: a latent variable analysis. Cognit Psychol 2000; 41: 49-100
• 18 Diamond A. Executive Functions. Annu Rev Psychol 2013; 64: 135-168
• 19 Hongwanishkul D, Happaney KR, Lee WSC. et al. Assessment of hot and cool executive function in young children: age-related changes and individual differences. Dev Neuropsychol 2005; 28: 617-644
• 20 Seiferth NY, Thienel R. Exekutive Funktionen. In: Schneider F, Fink GR. Hrsg. Funktionelle MRT in Psychiatrie und Neurologie. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer; 2013: 359-371
• 21 Baddeley A. Working memory and language: an overview. J Commun Disord 2003; 36: 189-208
• 22 Raven JC, Bulheller S, Häcker HO. (Hrsg). Coloured Progressive Matrices (CPM). Deutsche Bearbeitung und Normierung nach Raven, JC. Frankfurt am Main: Pearson Assessment; 2002
• 23 Tellegen PJ, Laros JA, Petermann F. SON-R 2 1/2–7. Non-verbaler Intelligenztest. Göttingen: Hogrefe; 2007
• 24 Petermann F. Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-III (WPPSI-III). Deutsche Version. Frankfurt am Main: Pearson Assessment; 2011
• 25 Zelazo PD. The Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS): a method of assessing executive function in children. Nat Protocols 2006; 1: 297-301
• 26 Jansen H, Mannhaupt G, Marx H. et al. BISC Bielfelder Screening zur Früherkennung von Lese-Rechtschreibschwierigkeiten. 2. Aufl., Göttingen: Hogrefe; 2002
• 27 Melchers P, Preuß U. K-ABC: Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children. Deutschsprachige Fassung. Interpretationshandbuch. Leiden: PITS; 2003
• 28 Rosenfeld J, Wohlleben B, Rohrbach-Volland S. et al. Phänotypisierung von Vorschulkindern mit spezifischer Sprachentwicklungsstörung. Laryngo-Rhino-Otol 2010; 89: 216-223
• 29 Ganzeboom H, Degraaf P, Treiman D. et al. A Standard International Socioeconomic Index of Occupational-Status. Soc Sci Res 1992; 21: 1-56
• 30 Kapa LL, Plante E. Executive function in SLI: recent advances and future directions. Curr Dev Disord Rep 2015; 2: 245-252
• 31 Archibald LMD, Gathercole SE. Nonword repetition in specific language impairment: more than a phonological short-term memory deficit. Psychon Bull Rev 2007; 14: 919-924
• 32 Henry LA, Messer DJ, Nash G. Phonological and visuospatial short-term memory in children with specific language impairment. J Cogn Educ Psychol 2012; 11: 45-56
• 33 Bühner M. Statistik für Psychologen und Sozialwissenschaftler. Deutschland: Pearson GmbH; 2009
• 34 Lahey M, Edwards J, Munson B. Is processing speed related to severity of language impairment?. J Speech Lang Hear Res 2001; 44: 1354
• 35 Miller CA, Kail R, Leonard LB. et al. Speed of processing in children with specific language impairment. J Speech Lang Hear Res 2001; 44: 416-433
• 36 Windsor J, Milbrath RL, Carney EJ. et al. General slowing in language impairment: methodological considerations in testing the hypothesis. J Speech Lang Hear Res 2001; 44: 446
• 37 Marton K. Visuo-spatial processing and executive functions in children with specific language impairment. Int J Lang Commun Disord 2008; 43: 181-200
• 38 Dibbets P, Bakker K, Jolles J. Functional MRI of task switching in children with specific language impairment (SLI). Neurocase 2006; 12: 71-79
• 39 Farrant BM, Maybery MT, Fletcher J. Language, cognitive flexibility, and explicit false belief understanding: longitudinal analysis in typical development and specific language impairment. Child Dev 2012; 83: 223-235
• 40 Carlson SM. Developmentally Sensitive Measures of Executive Function in Preschool Children. Dev Neuropsychol 2005; 28: 595-616
• 41 Thorell LB, Lindqvist S, Bergman Nutley S. et al. Training and transfer effects of executive functions in preschool children. Dev Sci 2009; 12: 106-113
• 42 Passolunghi MC, Costa HM. Working memory and early numeracy training in preschool children. Child Neuropsychol 2016; 22: 81-98
• 43 Kroesbergen EH, van ʼt Noordende JE, Kolkman ME. Training working memory in kindergarten children: effects on working memory and early numeracy. Child Neuropsychol 2014; 20: 23-37