Perceptual Learning and Memory Consolidation in Adults With and Without LI

NCT03609502 | Suspended

• 1 other identifier: 1280021
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 100
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study tests a memory-based account of atypical speech perception in adults with language-based learning disability (also known as developmental language impairment \[LI\]). One perspective regarding the its etiology considers impoverished speech sound representations to be central to the linguistic symptoms observed in LI. This project examines a potential abnormality in the process of building speech sound representations in LI. Previous work by the PI has found that sleep is important for learning speech sounds. Furthermore, different measures of speech perception (identification and discrimination), reveal distinct patterns of learning that are consistent with that of declarative and procedural memory consolidation. A division of labor by declarative and procedural memory systems in the building of speech representations may imply that problems with phonology may stem from selective weaknesses in declarative or procedural memory in predictive ways. The first project Aim is to identify the memory substrates of novel phonetic category formation. In Experiment 1, the investigators will obtain behavioral measures of declarative, procedural, and speech sound learning before and after post-training sleep in 40 typical adults and 20 adults with LI. Among typical adults, a double dissociation is predicted in which speech identification will be predicted by individual differences in declarative memory, and speech discrimination will be predicted by individual differences in procedural memory. Moreover, adults with LI are predicted to demonstrate consolidation deficits across memory types. The second project Aim is to identify the neural substrates of phonetic category formation. In Experiment 2, the investigators will obtain functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) recordings of 20 TD and 20 LI adults performing post-training identification and discrimination tasks on a trained speech contrast before and after sleep. In typical adults, a Time by Speech-task interaction is predicted. Speech identification will recruit episodic (hippocampal) information on Day 1 relative to classic regions for phonological processing on Day 2. Speech discrimination will result in a change in magnitude of activation from Days 1 and 2 in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), reflecting an overnight decrease in effort. LI (n=20) is predicted to demonstrate reduced overnight change in neural activation relative to TD in both tasks.

Conditions

Language Development Disorders

Keywords

sleep; memory consolidation; speech perception

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• nonnative speech sound learning: behavioral measures of memory consolidation

  learning will be assessed via behavioral performance (accuracy transformed to d') on perceptual tasks before training, after training, and after a post-training period of sleep

  2 days

• nonnative speech sound learning: fMRI measures of memory consolidation

  change over a period of sleep in neural activation (BOLD response) in response to learned speech

  2 days

Study Arms (2)

behavioral

EXPERIMENTAL

Adults with and without language impairment will be given three different types of behavioral training, and assessments of learning through those trainings, at two time points.

Behavioral: behavioral training

neuroimaging

EXPERIMENTAL

Following speech sound behavioral training, adults with and without language impairment will undergo post-training perceptual assessments in an MRI scanner before and after post-training sleep.

Behavioral: behavioral training

Interventions

behavioral training BEHAVIORAL

the participants will be trained to perceive a non-native speech contrast

behavioral; neuroimaging

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 24 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Monolingual speakers of American English
• History of:
• Typical gestation
• Sensory-motor development
• Typical hearing and vision
• Nonverbal cognition within normal limits

You may not qualify if:

• Current diagnosis of ADHD
• Developmental dyslexia
• Rapid automatized naming deficits
• Neurological disorders
• Socio-emotional disorders

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Delaware: lead

Study Sites (1)

University of Delaware

Newark, Delaware, 19713, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Language Development Disorders

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Language Disorders; Communication Disorders; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Assistant Professor

Model Details: This is a 2x2 mixed (Group by Time) design

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 28, 2018
• First Posted: August 1, 2018
• Study Start: August 1, 2018
• Primary Completion: March 1, 2021
• Study Completion: July 31, 2021
• Last Updated: July 9, 2020

Record last verified: 2020-07

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)