Collaborative Research: The developmental course of cerebral lateralization for space and language

合作研究：大脑空间和语言偏侧化的发展过程

• 批准号: 2318609
• 负责人: Elissa Newport
• 金额: $ 33.72万
• 依托单位: Georgetown University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-08-01 至 2027-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2318609&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; developmental; course; cerebral

One of the fundamental organizing principles of the brain is hemispheric specialization, where one side of the brain supports a specific behaviors cognitive process more than the other. Previous studies of adults have shown specialization for language processing in the left hemisphere and visual-spatial abilities in the right hemisphere. However, young children seem to use both sides of the brain more equally and do not show specific cognitive impairments after one-sided brain damage. This project uses behavioral testing and non-invasive functional brain imaging to investigate how behavior and the pattern of brain activation for language and visual-spatial abilities changes between ages 5 and 11 as hemispheric specialization emerges. Each participating child completes a range of language and visual-spatial tasks while their brain activity is measured, providing insight into how individual differences in brain activation relate to differences in language and spatial abilities, with implications for individual learning styles and educational programming. A key component of the project includes sharing the research with teachers of young children through targeted presentations emphasizing the scientific bases for our understanding of the brain’s two hemispheres and the exciting questions this project raises for understanding children's learning. In sum, the project can provide both the scientific and educational communities with a detailed understanding of the timetable for the development of hemispheric lateralization from early to middle-childhood, how changes during this developmental period affect children’s growing cognition, and why the specialization across the hemispheres in adults might be beneficial. Theories about the causes of brain lateralization have focused on different intrinsic processing biases between the hemispheres that make one hemisphere more efficient for carrying out certain kinds of computations than the other.  However, studies of the long-term outcomes of perinatal stroke suggest that in earliest life, both hemispheres of the young brain are equipotential and equally capable of developing language and/or spatial functions. Moreover, neuroimaging data show that typically developing children have more bilateral brain activation for tasks that evoke lateralized activation in adults. The research in this project tests the hypothesis that the typical developmental trajectory of lateralization begins with bilateral activation of both hemispheres in early childhood, with lateralization increasing over time and reaching mature lateralized patterns by late childhood. The researchers propose to use behavioral testing and fMRI brain neuroimaging (functional magnetic resonance imaging) to examine developmental trajectories in lateralization and performance. The relative timing of reaching this mature pattern may provide insights into the causes of this developmental pattern and help us better understand cognition in children, with deep implications for childhood education.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.

大脑的基本组织原则之一是半球特化，即大脑的一侧比另一侧更多地支持特定的行为认知过程。之前对成年人的研究表明，左脑的语言处理能力和右脑的视觉空间能力是专门化的。然而，年幼的孩子似乎更平均地使用两侧大脑，在单侧脑损伤后没有表现出特定的认知障碍。该项目使用行为测试和非侵入性大脑功能成像来研究随着大脑半球特化的出现，语言和视觉空间能力的行为和大脑激活模式在5岁到11岁之间是如何变化的。每个参与的儿童在测量他们的大脑活动的同时，完成一系列的语言和视觉空间任务，从而深入了解大脑激活的个体差异与语言和空间能力的差异是如何联系在一起的，并对个人的学习方式和教育规划产生影响。该项目的一个关键组成部分包括通过有针对性的演讲与幼儿教师分享这项研究，强调我们理解大脑两个半球的科学基础，以及该项目为理解儿童的学习提出的令人兴奋的问题。总而言之，该项目可以为科学界和教育界提供详细的了解，了解从儿童早期到中期大脑半球偏侧化的发展时间表，这一发展时期的变化如何影响儿童的认知成长，以及为什么成人大脑半球的专业化可能是有益的。关于大脑偏侧化原因的理论侧重于两个大脑半球之间不同的内在加工偏差，这些偏差使一个大脑半球在执行某些类型的计算时比另一个大脑半球更有效率。然而，对围产期中风的长期结果的研究表明，在早期生命中，年轻大脑的两个半球都具有相同的潜力，同样有能力发展语言和/或空间功能。 此外，神经成像数据显示，发育中的儿童在完成成人侧化激活的任务时，通常有更多的双侧大脑激活。本项目的研究验证了这样一种假设：典型的偏侧化发展轨迹始于儿童早期双侧大脑半球的激活，随着时间的推移，偏侧化逐渐增加，到儿童后期达到成熟的偏侧化模式。研究人员建议使用行为测试和功能磁共振脑神经成像(功能磁共振成像)来检查偏侧化和表现方面的发育轨迹。达到这种成熟模式的相对时机可能提供对这种发展模式的原因的洞察，并帮助我们更好地了解儿童的认知，对儿童教育具有深刻的影响。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。