Language disturbances in a group of participants suffering from Duchenne muscular dystrophy: a pilot study

Percept Mot Skills. 2007 Apr;104(2):663-76. doi: 10.2466/pms.104.2.663-676.

Abstract

Results from several studies suggest that the process of language acquisition may be altered in patients suffering from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. In this study, a group of 8 male participants with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (M age = 16 yr., SD = 4.7) underwent an extensive neuropsychological and language assessment. They also performed a discourse production task. Results showed mild mental retardation associated with a specific deficit in Verbal rather than Performance IQ. At the linguistic assessment, 7 of 8 participants showed moderate to severe difficulties on oral language processing with particularly impaired morphosyntactic competence.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Anomia / diagnosis
  • Aphasia, Broca / diagnosis
  • Articulation Disorders / diagnosis
  • Child
  • Comprehension
  • Dyslexia / diagnosis
  • Humans
  • Intellectual Disability / diagnosis
  • Intelligence
  • Language Development Disorders / diagnosis*
  • Language Tests
  • Male
  • Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne / diagnosis*
  • Neuropsychological Tests
  • Phonetics
  • Pilot Projects
  • Semantics
  • Speech Production Measurement
  • Writing