Language and sensory characteristics are reflected in voice-evoked responses in low birth weight children

Yuko Yoshimura; Yusuke Mitani; Takashi Ikeda; Sanae Tanaka; Momoka Suda; Ken Yaoi; Chiaki Hasegawa; Kyung-Min An; Sumie Iwasaki; Hirokazu Kumazaki; Daisuke N Saito; Hidenobu Ohta; Akiko Ando; Kazutoshi Cho; Mitsuru Kikuchi; Taizo Wada

doi:10.1038/s41390-024-03270-9

Language and sensory characteristics are reflected in voice-evoked responses in low birth weight children

Pediatr Res. 2024 Jun 21. doi: 10.1038/s41390-024-03270-9. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Yuko Yoshimura^{1

2}, Yusuke Mitani³, Takashi Ikeda², Sanae Tanaka², Momoka Suda⁴, Ken Yaoi^{2

5}, Chiaki Hasegawa², Kyung-Min An⁶, Sumie Iwasaki², Hirokazu Kumazaki⁷, Daisuke N Saito⁸, Hidenobu Ohta⁹, Akiko Ando¹⁰, Kazutoshi Cho¹⁰, Mitsuru Kikuchi¹¹, Taizo Wada¹²

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Human and Social Sciences, Kanazawa University, Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa, 920-1192, Japan.
² Research Center for Child Mental Development, Kanazawa University, 13-1 Takara-machi, Kanazawa, 920-8640, Japan.
³ Department of Pediatrics, Kanazawa University, 13-1 Takara-machi, Kanazawa, 920-8640, Japan. [email protected].
⁴ Research Center for Child Mental Development, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, 1-20-1 Handayama, Higashi-ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, 431-3192, Japan.
⁵ Department of Psychology, Teikyo University, 2-11-1 Kaga, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo, 173-8605, Japan.
⁶ Centre for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.
⁷ Department of Future Psychiatric Medicine, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University, 1-12-4 Sakamoto, Nagasaki, 852-8521, Japan.
⁸ Department of Psychology, Yasuda Women's University, 6-13-1 Kuyasu, Asaminami, Hiroshima, 731-0153, Japan.
⁹ Department of Occupational Therapy, Akita University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1-1 Hondo, Akita, 010-8543, Japan.
¹⁰ Maternity and Perinatal Care Center, Hokkaido University Hospital, N15, W7, Kita-Ku, Sapporo, 060-8638, Japan.
¹¹ Department of Psychiatry and Neurobiology, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa University, 13-1 Takara-machi, Kanazawa, 920-8641, Japan.
¹² Department of Pediatrics, Kanazawa University, 13-1 Takara-machi, Kanazawa, 920-8640, Japan.

PMID: 38902452
DOI: 10.1038/s41390-024-03270-9

Abstract

Background: Children born with very low birth weight (VLBW) are at higher risk for cognitive impairment, including language deficits and sensorimotor difficulties. Voice-evoked response (P1m), which has been suggested as a language development biomarker in young children, remains unexplored for its efficacy in VLBW children. Furthermore, the relation between P1m and sensory difficulties in VLBW children remains unclear.

Methods: 40 children with VLBW were recruited at 5-to-6 years old (26 male, 14 female, mean age of months ± SD, 80.0 ± 4.9). We measured their voice-evoked brain response using child-customized magnetoencephalography (MEG) and examined the relation between P1m and language conceptual inference ability and sensory characteristics.

Results: The final sample comprised 36 children (23 boys, 13 girls; ages 61-86 months; gestational ages 24-36 weeks). As a result of multiple regression analysis, voice-evoked P1m in the left hemisphere was correlated significantly with language ability (β = 0.414 P = 0.015) and sensory hypersensitivity (β = 0.471 P = 0.005).

Conclusion: Our findings indicate that the relation between P1m and language conceptual inference ability observed in term children in earlier studies is replicated in VLBW children, and suggests P1m intensity as a biomarker of sensory sensitivity characteristics.

Impact: We investigated brain functions related to language development and sensory problems in very low birth-weight children. In very low birth weight children at early school age, brain responses to human voices are associated with language conceptual inference ability and sensory hypersensitivity. These findings promote a physiological understanding of both language development and sensory characteristics in very low birth weight children.