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Developmental Changes in the Dynamic Neural Connectivity During Semantic and Syntactic Processing: Insights from EEG Analyses in Typically Developing Individuals
Poster Session C, Saturday, September 13, 11:00 am - 12:30 pm, Field House
Mohammad Hossein Behboudi1,2, Julie M Schneider3, Mandy J Maguire1,2,4; 1School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, 2Callier Center for Communication Disorders, University of Texas at Dallas, 3School of Education & Information Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, 4Center for Children and Families, University of Texas at Dallas
Purpose: Efficient language comprehension involves rapid communication among brain networks, a dynamic process that continues developing beyond childhood. Behavioral research indicates that during language comprehension, younger children predominantly rely on semantic cues, gradually incorporating syntactic information as they mature (Schneider & Maguire, 2019). Brain networks and connections, particularly those involved in language comprehension, mature progressively over childhood. EEG connectivity analyses, with their high temporal resolution, can capture rapid communication between different brain networks more nuanced than traditional ERP and TFR analyses. This study aimed to identify developmental changes in neural connectivity during semantic and syntactic processing in middle childhood and adulthood. Method: Sixty typically developing participants, 30 middle-childhood (ages 8–9) and 30 adults (ages 18–32), listened to sentences containing semantic errors, syntactic errors, and correct sentences (Schneider & Maguire, 2019). Errors always occurred at the verb position to ensure precise temporal alignment and control for sentence-level confounding factors. Semantic violations involved noun-verb mismatches (e.g., "the lock should be burning in the fireplace"), while syntactic violations involved verb-form errors of intrusion and omission (e.g., "should be burn" or "should burning"). EEG data preprocessing included filtering and ICA-based artifact removal. Imaginary coherence (iCoh) measured connectivity in theta (4–8 Hz) and beta (13–30 Hz) bands. These frequency bands have been chosen as they have been shown to be more prominently affected by the presence of semantic and syntactic error processing, respectively (Bastiaansen, 2015). Connectivity differences were statistically assessed via permutation tests (p < .05) with Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. Results: Adults exhibited increased theta coherence between left frontal and bilateral parieto-occipital regions at 350–450 ms following semantic errors (left: t(29)=2.71, p=0.014; right: t(29)=2.68, p=0.013). Children showed delayed theta coherence increases between left frontal and right parieto-occipital regions at 450–550 ms (t(29)=3.17, p<0.01). Theta connectivity between frontal regions and occipital regions was present in both groups, with a delayed timing in children. This shows the ongoing development of the coordination between higher-order processing networks in frontal regions, such as executive function, and the semantic representation network in occipital regions. Syntactic errors triggered decreased beta connectivity in adults between left temporal and frontal electrodes between 200 and 300 ms (t(29) = -2.79, p < 0.01). Around 600 msec, adults demonstrated a decrease in connectivity between left temporal and frontal regions (t(29) = -2.752, p = 0.011). In children, the connectivity decrease was observed between left temporal and central regions between 200 and 300 ms, similar to adults (t(29) = -2.84, p <0.01). The early decrease in connectivity seems to be associated with distortion in the early stages of syntactic processing (Friederici, 2016). The effect around 600 msec, which only happens in adults, is associated with the reanalysis and repair process of the syntactic error, and it engages both memory and unification hubs of the brain. The absence of this effect in children is similar to past reports (Schneider & Maguire, 2019), adding further evidence that the neural substrates supporting syntactic processing are still developing in middle childhood
Topic Areas: Language Development/Acquisition, Syntax and Combinatorial Semantics