Semantic overreliance as a suboptimal compensation for syntactic impairments in children with Developmental Language Disorder
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7148345 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jueyao Lin (0000-0003-1530-1597, Hong Kong Polytechnic University), Xiaocong Chen (0000-0003-4692-4359, Hong Kong Polytechnic University), Xunan Huang (University of Electronic Science and Technology of China), Patrick C M Wong (0000-0002-6105-5027, Chinese University of Hong Kong), Angel Wing Shan Chan (Hong Kong Polytechnic University), Michael T Ullman (0000-0001-9037-3537, Georgetown University), Caicai Zhang (0000-0002-7687-0518, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 266 |
| Pages | 105571 |
| Publication date | 2025-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Brain and Language (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0093-934X • E-ISSN: 1090-2155 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105571 |
| PMID | 40158271 |
| OpenAlex | W4408989826 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 50 |
The neurocognitive dynamics of semantic-syntactic interplay are not well understood in children with and without Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). This study examined the N400, P600 and their interplay in Cantonese-speaking children with DLD and age-matched typically developing (TD) children, by manipulating semantic and syntactic violations in Chinese classifier-noun agreement. Behaviorally, children with DLD demonstrated overall lower accuracy in grammaticality judgment. The N400 and P600 analyses respectively confirmed robust semantic processing but attenuated syntactic processing in the DLD group. Crucially, the N400-P600 interplay analyses revealed that TD children prioritized syntactic processing over semantic processing for outright syntactic violations, as indicated by less N400-P600 dependence and robust P600 dominance, whereas children with DLD relied on semantic processing and showed reduced P600 dominance. These results underscore a challenge to prioritize syntactic processing and (suboptimal) compensatory reliance on semantic processing in children with DLD, compatible with the predictions of the Procedural circuit Deficit Hypothesis
Cognition · Cognitive psychology · Compensation (psychology) · Developmental psychology · Language disorder · Linguistics · Psychoanalysis · Language Development and Disorders · Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism · Neuroscience · Psychology · Reading and Literacy Development
Children with Specific Language Impairment
Erplab
Processing a second language
The P600 as an index of syntactic integration difficulty
Specific Language Impairment is not Specific to Language
The independence of combinatory semantic processing
Simr
Fitting Linear Mixed-Effects Models Using lme4
Eeglab
LmerTest Package
Individual differences in the neural dynamics of visual narrative comprehension
Developmental language disorder in Chinese children
Classifier use by language-disordered and age-matched Cantonese-speaking children
The neuroanatomy of developmental language disorder
Event-related brain potentials elicited by syntactic anomaly
Phase 2 of Catalise
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |