Collaborative Research: NCS-FO Biology and Function of Prosody: Integrative approach to individual differences

大学入学准备和就业机会在很大程度上取决于年轻人的阅读能力。然而，最近的数据表明，几乎三分之二的测试学生，包括许多有阅读障碍的学生，不具备成功掌握大学水平阅读材料所需的基本技能。韵律是语言中与语调、重音和节奏有关的波动，是口语和阅读中一个重要但未被充分重视的方面。人类对语音韵律结构的敏感度各不相同，这似乎与阅读技能的个体差异有很强的联系。在神经和认知系统综合策略计划的支持下，该项目将采取大胆的步骤，通过一系列创造性的方法和研究环境来研究韵律的生物学和功能。通过有史以来第一个此类数据集，该项目旨在通过方法和水平（遗传学，神经影像学和行为任务表现）整合来自大量人口样本的关于韵律神经生物学基础的知识。除了科学进步，拟议项目中概述的活动将使研究团队能够为改善STEM教育和教育者发展，解决阅读障碍等神经发育障碍，增加公众对科学和技术的参与，以及加强跨学术网站的大数据合作做出贡献。韵律的基础生物学在神经和遗传水平上知之甚少，尽管它在人类的交流技能中起着重要的作用。创新的组合，多学科的方法，新的数据收集在大样本和使用现有的大规模资源，需要产生显着的生物学和韵律功能的知识。本研究的第一个目的是通过脑电图、眼动追踪和标准化行为任务的结合，探讨在言语感知和阅读的生态有效情境中，韵律线索的时间动态过程，并考察韵律敏感性对阅读个体差异的贡献。第二个目标将是韵律敏感性的全基因组关联研究，并将通过在美国各地在线招募的不同样本和在当地社区和教育环境中的田纳西州中部地区的个人进行。尖端的基因组学方法（PrediXcan和基因集富集分析）将被用来确定遗传标记和新的神经内表型（脑组织中的估算基因表达），引起个体差异的韵律。这一系列研究为未来计划的研究奠定了必要的基础，这些研究旨在解开韵律和语言功能其他方面的共享与分离的遗传结构，并可能揭示有关驱动阅读和语言技能个体差异的生物机制的变革性知识。该合作研究项目利用了该团队在认知神经科学、心理语言学、沟通障碍和人类遗传学方面的不同背景。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

College readiness and career opportunities are highly dependent on young adults' reading proficiency. Yet, recent data indicate that almost two-thirds of tested students, including many students with dyslexia, do not possess the fundamental skills that are required to successfully master college-level reading material. Prosody, defined as linguistically relevant fluctuations in intonation, stress and timing, is an essential but underappreciated aspect of spoken language and reading. Humans vary in their sensitivity to the prosodic structure of speech, and there appears to be a strong link to individual differences in reading skills. With the support of the Integrative Strategies in Neural and Cognitive Systems program, this project will take bold steps towards investigating the biology and function of prosody with a creative array of approaches and research settings. With the first-ever dataset of its kind, the project intends to make critical progress towards integrating knowledge from a large population sample about the neurobiological basis of prosody across methods and levels (genetics, neuroimaging, and behavioral task performance). Beyond scientific advancement, the activities outlined in the proposed project will allow the research team to contribute to improving STEM education and educator development, addressing neurodevelopmental disorders such as dyslexia, increasing public engagement with science and technology, and enhancing big-data partnerships across academic sites.The underlying biology of prosody is poorly understood at the neural and genetic level, despite its important function in humans' communication skills. Innovative combinations of multi-disciplinary approaches for novel data collection in large samples and use of existing large-scale resources are needed to yield significant knowledge of the biology and function of prosody. The first aim of this proposal will include a series of studies using a combination of EEG, eye tracking and standardized behavioral tasks to explore the time-dynamic processes of attending to prosodic cues in ecologically valid situations of speech perception and reading, and to examine the contribution of prosody sensitivity to individual differences in reading. The second aim will be a genome-wide association study of prosodic sensitivity and will be conducted through a diverse sample of individuals recruited online throughout the United States and in-person in the Middle Tennessee area in local community and educational settings. Cutting-edge genomic methodologies (PrediXcan and Gene Set Enrichment analysis) will be used to identify the genetic markers and novel neural endophenotypes (imputed gene expression in brain tissue) that give rise to individual differences in prosody. This series of studies builds essential groundwork for future planned studies that seek to disentangle shared versus separate genetic architecture of prosody and other aspects of language function and could reveal transformative knowledge about the biological mechanisms driving individual differences in reading and language skill. The collaborative research project leverages the team's diverse backgrounds in Cognitive Neuroscience, Psycholinguistics, Communication Disorders, and Human Genetics.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.