Structural and pragmatic language skills in school-age children relate to resting state functional connectivity

Language difficulties are common in school-age children but their etiology is often unknown. Although neural underpinnings of language have been well-studied in neurotypical individuals, functional connectivity differences between children with language difficulties and their typically-developing peers have not. There is little evidence regarding patterns of neural connectivity for children with language difficulties. Differences in neural networks related to degree of language difficulties and subtype of language skills (structural or pragmatic) are unclear. We examined expressive and receptive language networks, and an executive function network, in school-age children (8-12 years, n = 81) relative to their caregiver-reported language skills. We hypothesized that children with poorer structural and pragmatic language skills would have decreased connectivity in these networks. Participants were separated into groups by structural and pragmatic language scores: those with structural language difficulties (SLD), pragmatic language difficulties (PLD), and combined language difficulties (CLD, consisting of some participants in both SLD and PLD). The remainder of participants were in the typical language (TL) group. Results showed trends toward increased cross-hemispheric connectivity in age-matched controls relative to those with poorer language skills. Specifically, connectivity between bilateral inferior frontal gyri and areas including bilateral supplementary motor areas, cerebellar regions, and bilateral frontal gyri was associated with higher structural and pragmatic language scores. Connectivity among additional regions including bilateral superior temporal gyri and Heschl's gyrus showed both positive and negative correlation with both language scores. This suggests that reduced connectivity between regions involved in language processing may contribute to language difficulties in school-age children.