Schedule of Events | Symposia

Sleep Architecture and Speech Consolidation across Developmental Language Disorder and Typical Development

Poster Session B - Sunday, March 30, 2025, 8:00 – 10:00 am EDT, Back Bay Ballroom/Republic Ballroom

Ali Solbi¹, Rahul Gurram Thimmugari², Anne Van Zelst³, F. Sayako Earle¹; ¹University of Delaware, ²Georgetown University, ³Florida Atlantic University

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in how sleep helps with memory consolidation and language, and potential deficits in sleep-mediated consolidation in those with disordered language. This study investigated the relationship between sleep architecture and consolidation of speech across adults with a wide range of language skills, from those with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) to typically developing (TD) adults. 36 monolingual English speakers aged 18-35 participated. Of these, eight were identified with DLD. Participants completed a non-native speech sound identification training, and were tested before and after a 2.5-hour post-training nap. Sleep EEG was recorded to assess sleep architecture and neural oscillatory activity. After bandpass filtering and artifact removal, EEG data was scored into stages using an automated scoring software. Slow and fast spindles were detected by applying Finite Impulse Response filters (9–12 and 12–15 Hz, respectively), and then calculating the root-mean-square (RMS) of the signal in moving windows of .2 seconds. Spindles were identified when the RMS remained above 1.5 standard deviations for .5-3 seconds. Results indicated no group-level differences in sleep architecture. Surprisingly, a negative correlation was observed between fast spindle density and learning in TD. This negative relationship is contrary to expectations from the broader memory consolidation literature. Furthermore, higher spindle density was associated with functional deficits in language (i.e. DLD). Further research with larger samples and longer sleep is needed to confirm these findings. This work may lead to potential sleep interventions to improve language outcomes in individuals with DLD.

Topic Area: LONG-TERM MEMORY: Skill Learning