Spoken language comprehension in children and adults with Angelman Syndrome

Objective evaluation of receptive communication abilities in nonspeaking individuals using standardized behavioral measures can be complicated by co-occurring intellectual disabilities and motor difficulties. Eye tracking during listening may offer an informative complementary approach to directly evaluate receptive language skills.

This study examined feasibility of eye gaze measures as an index of spoken language comprehension in nonspeaking children and adults with Angelman syndrome (AS; n = 23) using a looking-while-listening procedure. Typically developing children (n = 34) provided a reference data set. Primary caregivers of participants with AS completed standardized informant reports (MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory: Words and Gestures; Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-3; Aberrant Behavior Checklist-2) to characterize communicative skills and general adaptive functioning.

Gaze data in participants with AS, particularly in the individuals reported by caregivers to have larger receptive vocabularies and stronger adaptive communicative functioning, demonstrated the expected pattern of comprehension reflected by the increased probability of looks to the target images after vs. before they were named in a spoken sentence. However, processing speed (gaze reaction time) was significantly slower in participants with AS than in the typically developing group.

Gaze-based paradigms could be an informative measure of receptive communication processes in participants who are unable to complete traditional standardized behavioral assessments.