Early Gesture Predicts Language Delay in Children with Pre- or Perinatal Brain Lesions

          The article I chose was called “Early Gesture Predicts Language Delay in Children with Pre- or Perinatal Brain Lesions.” The researchers of this article were Eve Sauer, Susan Levine, and Susan Goldin-Meadow. I chose this article because I thought it would be interesting to learn about the ability to use early gestures predict productivity and strong vocabulary for children who have had pre or perinatal brain lesions.
          "Children with pre- or perinatal unilateral brain lesions (PL) exhibit marked plasticity for language functions." Brain plasticity is an ever changing phenomenon that is associated with learning and is associated with connections between our neurons. Other parts of the brain that are important for language development include Broca’s area, Wernicke’s area, the angular gyrus and the supramarginal gyrus. As the child ages they can begin communicating by using gestures that in turn are replaced with speech. Previous studies have shown that children with right hemisphere lesions have shown a delay in using gestures between the ages of 10 to 17 months of age. It has been stated that early brain injuries could disrupt the relationships between receptive and expressive languages and gestures. The goal of this study was to “explore whether early child gesture predicts later vocabulary size in children with PL as it does in TD children.”
          There were a total of 11 child participants who had PL. Their ages ranged between 18 to 30 months. This study was done on a longitudinal scale that was observed in their homes for 90 minutes. During this time children were interacting with their caregivers at age 18, 22, and 26 months old. At the 30 month old mark the children were tested with the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Third Edition to measure vocabulary.
          The results have been found to be consistent with other studies in which “children with PL experience language delays that vary in terms of their severity and their persistence over time.” It was also found that using gestures may have predicted the use of subsequent vocabulary because it was being affected by cognitive and motor skills. The same skills used for learning. These important finding may suggest that using gestures to help children learn a language when the child is just learning to talk. This may also provide clinicians with a way to help identify children who may have persistent language difficulties before they appear in a child’s speech.
Source:
Sauer, E., Levine, S. C., & Goldin-Meadow, S. (2010). Early Gesture Predicts Language Delay in Children With Pre- or Perinatal Brain Lesions. Child Development, 81(2), 528-539. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01413.x