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• A larger positive mismatch response (P-MMR) at birth is associated with better development of prereading skills. • A more mature pattern of neural auditory speech discrimination is associated with a better development of pre-reading skills. • Familial dyslexia risk affects the development of pre-reading skills and their associations with MMRs. We investigated how infant mismatch responses (MMRs), which have the potential for providing information on auditory discrimination abilities, could predict subsequent development of pre-reading skills and the risk for familial dyslexia. We recorded MMRs to vowel, duration, and frequency deviants in pseudo-words at birth and 28 months in a sample over-represented by infants with dyslexia risk. We examined MMRs' associations with pre-reading skills at 28 months and 4–5 years and compared the results in subgroups with vs. without dyslexia risk. Larger positive MMR (P-MMR) at birth was found to be associated with better serial naming. In addition, increased mismatch negativity (MMN) and late discriminative negativity (LDN), and decreased P-MMR at 28 months overall, were shown to be related to better pre-reading skills. The associations were influenced by dyslexia risk, which was also linked to poor pre-reading skills. Infant MMRs, providing information about the maturity of the auditory system, are associated with the development of pre-reading skills. Speech-processing deficits may contribute to deficits in language acquisition observed in dyslexia. Infant MMRs could work as predictive markers of atypical linguistic development during early childhood. Results may help in planning preventive and rehabilitation interventions in children at risk of learning impairments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the early development of novelty detection and the effect of familial dyslexia risk and infant music intervention on this development., Methods: In the longitudinal DyslexiaBaby study, we investigated the maturation of novelty-P3 and late-discriminative negativity (LDN) event-related potentials to novel sounds at birth (N = 177) and at the ages of 6 (N = 83) and 28 months (N = 131)., Results: Novelty-P3 was elicited at all ages, whereas LDN was elicited at 6 and 28 months. Novelty-P3 amplitude was largest at 6 months, and its latency decreased with age. LDN amplitude decreased and latency increased between 6 to 28 months. Dyslexia risk or intervention had no effects, apart from a longer LDN latency in the high-risk than no-risk group., Conclusions: Already neonates respond to novel environmental sounds, indicating prerequisites for detecting potentially relevant events at birth. Maturation influences neural novelty detection., Significance: Novelty detection is crucial for perceiving important events, but its early development has been scarcely studied. We found, with a large sample, that neonates detect novel events, and showed the developmental pattern of its neural signature. The results serve as a reference for studies on typical and atypical novelty-detection development in infancy when behavioral testing is challenging., (Copyright © 2024 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

• The positive mismatch response (P-MMR) in neonates increases by 6 months and decreases by 28 months; mismatch negativity (MMN) and late discriminative negativity (LDN) become larger and more prevalent with increasing age. • P-MMR and MMN latencies decrease with age between birth and 28 months; LDN latency increases from 6 to 28 months. • Familial dyslexia risk affects MMRs and their maturation, but not always by diminishing or delaying them. We investigated early maturation of the infant mismatch response MMR, including mismatch negativity (MMN), positive MMR (P-MMR), and late discriminative negativity (LDN), indexing auditory discrimination abilities, and the influence of familial developmental dyslexia risk. We recorded MMRs to vowel, duration, and frequency deviants in pseudo-words at 0, 6, and 28 months and compared MMRs in subgroups with vs. without dyslexia risk, in a sample over-represented by risk infants. Neonatal MMN to the duration deviant became larger and earlier by 28 months; MMN was elicited by more deviants only at 28 months. The P-MMR was predominant in infancy; its amplitude increased by 6 and decreased by 28 months; latency decreased with increasing age. An LDN emerged by 6 months and became larger and later by 28 months. Dyslexia risk affected MMRs and their maturation. MMRs demonstrate an expected maturational pattern with 2–3 peaks by 28 months. The effects of dyslexia risk are prominent but not always as expected. This large-scale longitudinal study shows MMR maturation with three age groups and three deviants. Results illuminate MMR's relation to the adult responses, and hence their cognitive underpinnings, and help in identifying typical/atypical auditory development in early childhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of morphological awareness in reading and spelling performance Abstract. Objective: Although morphological awareness (MA) is known to be important for literacy acquisition, there are few studies - and no tests - to assess it in the German language. This study evaluates the relationship between MA and three different reading measures as well as spelling and phonological awareness (PA) in German children. Method: To assess MA, we developed an MA screening instrument. We then assessed reading speed, fluency, pseudoword decoding, spelling, MA, and PA of 172 2 nd -graders. Results: MA correlated significantly with the three reading measures as well as spelling and PA, and it explained significant variance of reading speed, fluency, and spelling both in addition to PA and on its own. MA did not account for additional variance of pseudoword decoding. The variance explained by MA was significant for reading and for spelling disorders. Conclusions: The results demonstrate that MA is very important also for German literacy acquisition. Including MA is a promising approach not only for spelling, but also for reading interventions.