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Updated: Jul 30, 2025
Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations
Published on: July 1, 2015
Is epileptiform activity related to developmental language disorder? Findings from the HelSLI study
Hanna-Reetta Lajunen1, Marja Laasonen2,3, Pekka Lahti-Nuuttila2,4
1Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Finland.
Objective:
To study if interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) are associated with language performance or pre-/perinatal factors in children with developmental language disorder (DLD).
Methods:
We recorded routine EEG in wake and sleep in 205 children aged 2.9-7.1 years with DLD, without neurologic diseases or intellectual disability. We examined the language performance of the children and collected data on pre-/perinatal factors.
Results:
Interictal epileptiform discharges were not associated with lower language performance. Children with so-called "rolandic", i.e. centrotemporoparietal, IEDs had better language skills, but age explained this association. Most pre-/perinatal factors evaluated did not increase the risk of rolandic IEDs, except for maternal smoking (OR 4.4, 95% CI 1.4-14). We did not find electrical status epilepticus during slow-wave sleep (ESES)/spike-and-wave activation in sleep (SWAS) in any children.
Conclusions:
Interictal epileptiform discharges are not associated with lower language performance, and ESES/SWAS is not common in children with DLD.
Significance:
Routine EEGs do not bring additional information about language performance in children with DLD who do not have any neurologic diseases, seizures, intellectual disability, or regression of language development.
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