Cortical Processing of Speech in Children with Dyslexia

Abstract

Objective of the study: The present study evaluated the performance of children with dyslexia in comparison to typically developing children on speech evoked auditory late latency response. Method: A total number of 20 children (40 ears) in the age range of 10-12 years were taken for the study. Out of 20 children, there were 10 typically developing children and 10 children with dyslexia. Results: Multivariate analysis of variance was carried out to compare the latency and amplitude measures of speech evoked auditory late latency response between the groups. Results revealed prolonged latencies of P1, N1, P2, and N2 (p < 0.001) and reduced amplitude of all peaks of speech evoked late latency responses except for wave N1 (p < 0.05) in individuals with dyslexia. Conclusion: Speech evoked auditory late latency response is easily traceable in all children with dyslexia and typically developing children. However, children with dyslexia exhibited prolonged latencies and reduced amplitudes of speech evoked auditory late latency response in the present study. The deviancies appeared in the study may be attributed to the abnormal encoding of speech signal at the cortical level in children with dyslexia.