Биологические науки/8. Физиология человека и животных

Bakieva N.Z., Grebneva N.N.

Tyumen State University, Tyumen, Russia

Characteristics cognitive development of 6-7 years old children with speech defects

Keywords: functional brain asymmetry; speech defects; cognitive functions; 6-7 years old children; type of lateral organization; development; pre-natal period; sinistral signs, readiness to the school teaching,

Abstract. A comparative analysis of anamnestic data to study the features of the children's perinatal development and to identify the causes of speech defects was conducted. This analysis allowed revealing a large amount of risk factors among the mothers who are had children with speech defects as compared to the mothers who are had children with normal speech development. The study of literature proves the existence of ambivalent opinions of different authors about the features of cognitive activity of children with the dominance the sinistral signs. These opinions arise due to neglect the pathology during a pregnancy and labors and the diseases during an early development of child with the dominance the sinistral signs. The findings allowed to reveal the increased frequency of sinistral signs in an individual type of functional brain asymmetry among the 6-7 years old children with speech defects.

Introduction. The level of psychological and physiological development of 6-7 years old children is different and is associated with individual features in the development. The widespread individual feature is the dominance the left type of functional brain asymmetry - sinistral. And the widespread defect among the modern children is the speech defect. Special attention was paid to identify the features of functional brain asymmetry and to compare with speech defects among the surveyed children, because there are data about the connection between these features in the development in the literature.

The level of development of speech plays an important role at the adaptation in the beginning of systematic school training because the speech defects are widespread among the modern children. There are data about the correlation between the speech defects and the individual type of functional asymmetry in the modern literature [1]. Available data are rather inconsistent. We surveyed 131 healthy children to determine the features of type of functional asymmetry among 6-7 years old children with speech defects.

Materials and methods. We analyzed the children^, s anamnestic data to understand the reasons of speech defects, also carried on a questioning of parents. All examinees were separated at two groups. The first group was presented by children with normal speech development (66 persons - 32 boys and 34 girls). The second group - by children with speech defects (65 persons - 33 boys and 32 girls).

The individual type of functional asymmetry was determined by child’s sensory and motor preferences, using a Leutin^’s technique and carrying out 19 experimental tests [2; 3].

In order to establish the dependence between the mother^’s health and the features of the child^’s development we marked out such risk factors as:

1) diseases of pregnant women;

2) complications during a pregnancy and labors;

3) pathology is revealed among the children at maternity hospital.

Results and discussion. Studying the anamnestic data and the conclusions of medical-pedagogical documents allowed revealing the features of the pre-natal and early periods of children’s development. The findings allowed to uncover the reasons of speech defects and also to find a huge amount of risk factors among mothers who have children with speech defects than the first group’s mothers [Table-1].

Mothers of the first group’s children didn’t have obvious deviations during a pregnancy and labors.There were chronic diseases,toxicosisat during the second half of pregnancy and threat of pregnancy’s interruption at the medical records.

Studying the anamnestic data about the perinatal period of development of children of the second group showed that all children with speech defects had evidences in the deviation during a pregnancy and labors.The research had shown a high prevalence of the risk factors among the children with speech defects than the first group’s children who had a normal speech development (р<0,05).

Table 1.

Risk factors of speech defects among 6-7 years old children

Group of children	Sex	n	Risk factors in development				Total number of risk factors/1 child
			Diseasesduring a pregnancy	Complicationsduring a pregnancy	Complications during labors	Child’s pathology in maternity hospital
Normal speech development	B	32	3	10	3	1	0,53±0,70
	G	34	3	9	3	0	0,44±0,30
Speech defects	B	33	10	17	13	10	1,52±0,60
	G	32	9	16	12	8	1,41±0,30*

Note:* - the veracity of differences between children with normal speech development and with speech defects at р<0,05.

Such pathological deviations as a threat of the pregnancy’s interruption, a toxicosis, a pre-natal hypoxia of the fetus as a result of the anemia, distress of the fetus’s blood circulation, an oligotrophy of the fetus were twice as more. Such diseases as chronic, gynecologic, barrenness, a pre-natal infection’s risk were revealed 3 times as more.The second group mothers had pathology of the labors: a prematurity, a child’s somatic delicacy during a first months of his life (it was 4 times as more as the first group mothers).

There were evidences in the perinatal lesion of central nervous system at the anamnesis, so all children of the second group were observed by neurologist as a group of the neurologic pathology’s risk. Similar data were obtained by P.J. Anderson [4].

Studying the individual type of functional asymmetry allowed to reveal that 14% girls and 17% boys belonged to the group "absolute dextral" (dextral signs) among the first group’s children [Figure-1]. .

Different combinations of 3 dextral and 1 sinistral and/or 1 symmetric signs belonged to group "dextral" (43% girls and 50% boys).

43% girls and 33% boys belonged to group "not dextral" with the dominance the sinistral signs. There were no less than 3 sinistral from 4 probable signs or combinations of 3 symmetric and 1 sinistral signs in this group. A few children – "absolute sinistral".

Among children with speech defects 12% girls and 20% boys belonged to group "absolute dextral", 38% girls and 40% boys – to group "dextral", 50% girls and 40% boys - to group "not dextral" with the dominance the sinistral and symmetric signs. There weren't cases about genetic parentage of sinistral signs among them.

Fig. 1. Distribution the children of different sexes

by types of functional brain asymmetry (%)

Conclusion. Studying the references showed an existence of opposite belief of authors about the features of cognitive activity of the children with sinistral signs. This belief arose because pathology during a pregnancy and labors, diseases during an early development of child with sinistral signs weren't considered.

Some researchers consider that sinistral signs are connected with a pathological process in the brain. Sinistral signs reflect a pathological development of nervous system. But the increase in number of girls and boys with sinistral signs among people with deviations in the development testified that sinistral signs are consequence of deviations in health instead of the reason of its impairment [1]. Now there were facts which confirm a possibility of a pathological parentage of sinistral signs. In the anamnesis it was shown that children with sinistral signs had deviations during a pregnancy and labors.

As a result of our research we revealed a huge number of risk factors among the children with speech defects than children who had a normal speech development.It is possible that high frequency of sinistral signs in an individual type of functional brain asymmetry among children with speech defects testified about increase the adaptive abilities of organism in unusual conditions.

Analysis of the research data showed the difference in the formation of cognitive functions between the «dextral» and «sinistral» children: the children with the dominance the sinistral signs had a high level of memory, of verbal mindset; the children with the dominance the dextral signs had a high level of visual and spatial perception, of motor skills. Less low indicators were obtained by all cognitive functions in the «dextral» and «sinistral» children show the weighed down anamnesis (not the type of functional brain asymmetry) affects the development of cognitive functions in children with speech defects.

References

1. Bakieva N.Z. Anthropological and physiological characteristic and «readiness to the school teaching» of modern children considering the individual characteristics of development: dis. ... cand.sci.biol.: 03.03.01. Chelyabinsk: Chelyabinsk State Pedagogical University, 2012. 202 p.

2. Bezrukich M.M. Sinistral child at school. M., 1998. 320 p.

3. Leutin V.P. (2008) Functional asymmetry of brain. Myths and reality. M., 2008. 368 p.

4. Anderson V. (2001) Pediatric rehabilitation, Vol. 4(3). P. 119-136.