Alcock Katie
Department of Psychology, Lancaster University.
Downs Syndr Res Pract. 2006 Aug;11(1):1-8. doi: 10.3104/reports.310.
Motor control has long been associated with language skill, in deficits, both acquired and developmental, and in typical development. Most evidence comes from limb praxis however; the link between oral motor control and speech and language has been neglected, despite the fact that most language users talk with their mouths. Oral motor control is affected in a variety of developmental disorders, including Down syndrome. However, its development is poorly understood. We investigated oral motor control in three groups: adults with acquired aphasia, individuals with developmental dysphasia, and typically developing children. In individuals with speech and language difficulties, oral motor control was impaired. More complex movements and sets of movements were even harder for individuals with language impairments. In typically developing children (21-24 months), oral motor control was found to be related to language skills. In both studies, a closer relationship was found between language and complex oral movements than simple oral movements. This relationship remained when the effect of overall cognitive ability was removed. Children who were poor at oral movements were not good at language, although children who were good at oral movements could fall anywhere on the distribution of language abilities. Oral motor skills may be a necessary precursor for language skills.
运动控制长期以来一直与语言技能相关，无论是后天获得性和发育性缺陷方面，还是在典型发育过程中。然而，大多数证据来自肢体运用；尽管大多数语言使用者通过嘴巴说话，但口腔运动控制与言语和语言之间的联系却一直被忽视。口腔运动控制在包括唐氏综合征在内的多种发育障碍中都会受到影响。然而，人们对其发育了解甚少。我们对三组人群的口腔运动控制进行了研究：后天性失语症成年人、发育性语言障碍个体以及发育正常的儿童。在有言语和语言困难的个体中，口腔运动控制受损。对于有语言障碍的个体来说，更复杂的动作和一系列动作甚至更难完成。在发育正常的儿童（21 - 24个月）中，发现口腔运动控制与语言技能相关。在两项研究中，都发现语言与复杂的口腔动作之间的关系比与简单口腔动作之间的关系更紧密。在排除整体认知能力的影响后，这种关系依然存在。口腔动作差的儿童语言能力也不好，尽管口腔动作好的儿童在语言能力分布上可能处于任何位置。口腔运动技能可能是语言技能的必要前提。
