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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 7, 2026

Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations

Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations

Published on: July 1, 2015

Auditory evoked fields predict language ability and impairment in children.

Janis E Oram Cardy¹, Elissa J Flagg, Wendy Roberts

¹School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada. joramcar@uwo.ca

International Journal of Psychophysiology : Official Journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology

|February 29, 2008

Summary

Auditory evoked magnetic fields, specifically right hemisphere M50 latency, can predict language abilities in children. This finding helps explain the overlap in language impairments between children with autism and Specific Language Impairment (SLI).

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Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations

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Making Sense of Listening: The IMAP Test Battery

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Published on: October 11, 2010

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Developmental Psychology
Speech and Language Pathology

Background:

A subgroup of children with autism exhibits linguistic impairments similar to those with Specific Language Impairment (SLI).
The underlying cause of this overlap in language difficulties between autism and SLI remains unclear.
Investigating neural markers may elucidate the shared mechanisms of language impairment.

Purpose of the Study:

To examine if auditory evoked magnetic fields can predict language and other developmental abilities in children and adolescents.
To explore the neural basis of language impairments in children with autism and SLI.
To identify potential biomarkers for language difficulties in these populations.

Main Methods:

Utilized a 151-channel MEG system to record auditory evoked magnetic fields (M50 and M100 peak latencies) in the left and right hemispheres.
Assessed language ability, nonverbal IQ, and autism-associated behaviors in 45 participants aged 7-18.
Included participants with typical development, autism (with and without language impairment), and SLI.

Main Results:

Right hemisphere (RH) M50 latency significantly predicted overall oral language ability, accounting for 36% of the variance.
RH M50 latency was the strongest predictor of clinical language impairment (LI), achieving 82% accuracy in predicting receptive LI.
Auditory evoked responses reflected language functioning rather than non-specific brain dysfunction (e.g., IQ, behavior).

Conclusions:

Delayed auditory perceptual processing in the RH, indicated by RH M50 latency, may underlie language impairments.
This neural dysfunction likely contributes to the overlap observed in language difficulties between subgroups of children with autism and SLI.
Auditory evoked responses serve as a potential indicator of language comprehension deficits.