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Reward and motivation mechanisms supporting language learning: a cross-syndrome investigation of Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) and autism

支持语言学习的奖励和动机机制：发展性语言障碍（DLD）和自闭症的跨综合症调查

基本信息

批准号：
MR/X003647/1
负责人：
Saloni Krishnan
金额：
$ 103.03万
依托单位：
Royal Holloway University of London
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2023
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2023 至无数据
项目状态：
未结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=MR%2FX003647%2F1
关键词：
Reward motivation mechanisms supporting language

项目摘要

Developmental language disorder (DLD) and autism are two common neurodevelopmental conditions in which language acquisition is disrupted. Autism affects how children communicate and interact with the world. One in every 100 children has autism, and 70% of autistic children face lifelong language difficulties. DLD is a neurodevelopmental condition characterised by persistent difficulties with understanding and using language. Two children in every classroom are estimated to have DLD. Language difficulties have a severe impact on these children's life outcomes, limiting academic achievement, job prospects, and social and emotional well-being. One factor that could facilitate learning - or exacerbate impairments - is motivation. Children with these conditions often do not enjoy, or pursue, language-based tasks such as reading. This creates a vicious cycle: those who are not good at language disengage from language, and consequently, they struggle to get better at language. Yet, current cognitive models of these two conditions largely neglect the role of motivation. Understanding how to enhance language learning by improving motivation could help us achieve better outcomes from existing or novel interventions. In this project, I focus on the links between motivation and language learning, and their disruption in DLD and autism.Recent advances in methods, particularly in brain imaging and mathematical modelling, now allow us to understand motivation in far greater depth. We can ask which things people find intrinsically rewarding, and quantify how much effort they will exert to obtain them. Crucially, these studies reveal motivation can enhance learning. I plan to use these advanced approaches to study motivation for language learning in DLD and autism for the first time. I will examine if children with DLD and autism find language learning intrinsically rewarding, and if states of intrinsic motivation can be used to improve learning. I will also examine the role of external social and non-social rewards for language learning, assessing if conferred benefit differs in DLD and autism. Finally, I will develop a new task to quantify effort, and assess whether people with DLD or autism perceive language learning as less worthy of effort than neurotypical people. This work will help us understand what changes we might need to make to the learning environment to support language learning for these children.In other populations (e.g. ADHD, Parkinson's disease), differences in motivation have been linked to specific circuits in the brain. We propose to use similar imaging techniques to examine brain structure and function in the neural regions involved in language processing and motivation. This will help us understand which regions or networks might be disrupted in DLD and autism, and give us greater insight into the differences between groups (for instance, different regions may be disrupted in DLD and autism). Additionally, both children with DLD and those with autism who have language difficulties are understudied from a neuroscientific standpoint, so this work will also yield important information about language processing in these groups.In summary, reward and motivation play a crucial role in learning, across a variety of tasks and across species. Yet, their role in language learning is under-studied. Using state-of-the-art methods, I will study the interaction between language processing and reward and motivation systems in DLD, autism, and typical development. This will give us insight into motivation for language learning, shedding light on whether methods that are effective for neurotypical children hold in DLD and autism. Further, by understanding specific brain disruptions in these groups, we will be able to advance our knowledge of the biological differences underlying these two conditions. Ultimately, we can develop more targeted intervention to boost language learning, improving life outcomes in these groups.

发育性语言障碍（DLD）和自闭症是两种常见的神经发育疾病，其中语言习得被破坏。自闭症影响儿童与世界的沟通和互动。每100名儿童中就有一名患有自闭症，70%的自闭症儿童面临终身语言困难。DLD是一种神经发育状况，其特征在于理解和使用语言的持续困难。估计每个教室有两个孩子患有DLD。语言困难对这些儿童的生活结果产生严重影响，限制了学业成绩，就业前景以及社会和情感健康。一个可能促进学习--或加剧障碍--的因素是动机。患有这些疾病的儿童通常不喜欢或不追求基于语言的任务，如阅读。这就造成了一个恶性循环：那些不擅长语言的人脱离语言，因此，他们努力提高语言水平。然而，目前这两种情况的认知模型在很大程度上忽视了动机的作用。了解如何通过提高动机来增强语言学习，可以帮助我们从现有或新的干预措施中获得更好的结果。在这个项目中，我专注于动机和语言学习之间的联系，以及它们在DLD和自闭症中的破坏。最近的方法进步，特别是在大脑成像和数学建模方面，现在让我们能够更深入地了解动机。我们可以问人们认为哪些事情是内在有益的，并量化他们为获得这些东西所付出的努力。重要的是，这些研究表明动机可以促进学习。我计划首次使用这些先进的方法来研究DLD和自闭症的语言学习动机。我将研究DLD和自闭症儿童是否发现语言学习本质上是有益的，以及内在动机的状态是否可以用来改善学习。我还将研究外部社会和非社会奖励对语言学习的作用，评估是否在DLD和自闭症中赋予不同的好处。最后，我将开发一个新的任务来量化努力，并评估DLD或自闭症患者是否认为语言学习比神经正常的人更不值得努力。这项工作将帮助我们了解我们可能需要对学习环境进行哪些改变，以支持这些儿童的语言学习。在其他人群中（例如多动症，帕金森病），动机的差异与大脑中的特定回路有关。我们建议使用类似的成像技术来检查大脑结构和功能的神经区域参与语言处理和动机。这将帮助我们了解哪些区域或网络可能在DLD和自闭症中被破坏，并让我们更深入地了解群体之间的差异（例如，不同的区域可能在DLD和自闭症中被破坏）。此外，从神经科学的角度来看，DLD儿童和有语言障碍的自闭症儿童都没有得到充分的研究，因此这项工作也将产生关于这些群体语言处理的重要信息。总之，奖励和动机在学习中起着至关重要的作用，在各种任务和跨物种中。然而，它们在语言学习中的作用却没有得到充分的研究。使用最先进的方法，我将研究DLD，自闭症和典型发展中的语言处理和奖励和动机系统之间的相互作用。这将使我们深入了解语言学习的动机，阐明对神经型儿童有效的方法是否适用于DLD和自闭症。此外，通过了解这些群体中特定的大脑中断，我们将能够推进我们对这两种情况下生物学差异的认识。最终，我们可以开发更有针对性的干预措施来促进语言学习，改善这些群体的生活成果。