Probing the neural basis for verbal working memory impairments in developmental language disorders

Some children who are otherwise quite normal have great difficulty in learning to speak or read. Behavioral measures indicate that these children have significant deficits in verbal working memory. Barry et al., (submitted) have found that parents of children with language impairments (SLI) also have a reduced verbal working memory. This suggests that deficits in verbal working memory are heritable and are a risk factor for SLI.