Neuroimaging Language in the Normally Developing Brain

这项拟议的研究将使用功能和结构磁共振成像（fMRI和MRI）来开始描绘与7至14岁正常发育儿童高级语言功能紧急情况相关的神经系统。更具体地说，这个试点项目有两个主要目标。首先，我们将使用功能磁共振成像（fMRI）来限定和量化与封闭形式语言系统（即语音、语义、句法）水平的语言处理以及更广泛的交际环境（即韵律、话语、语用）中语言处理相关的模式或皮层活动（在定位、幅度、空间范围和区域间连通性方面）的发展变化。其次，我们将把功能磁共振成像观察到的支持语言处理的神经网络的发育变化与结构磁共振成像评估的大脑形态（区域体积、灰质和白质浓度、形状和不对称性）的年龄相关变化联系起来。横断面研究的发现将成为纵向研究项目的基础，旨在全面阐明正常发育儿童成熟语言能力的神经发育过程。此外，这些发育方面的发现将为评估在各种发育障碍（如阅读障碍、自闭症、早发性精神分裂症）中观察到的与语言和交流障碍相关的脑功能障碍模式提供规范性数据。通过描述语言处理、大脑功能和大脑结构之间的关系，本研究将开始弥补正常发育的大脑中关于语言的神经基础的信息缺口。此外，拟议的项目将强调大脑-行为相互作用的综合性质。在理论层面上，深入了解语言处理的神经基础，特别是它作为学习的功能是如何变化和发展的，将启发我们对语言起源和模块化的思考。

The proposed study will use both functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI and MRI) to begin to delineate the neural systems associated with the emergency of high-level linguistic functions in normally developing children, aged 7 to 14. More specifically, this pilot project has two main goals. First, we will use fMRI to qualify and quantify developmental changes in the pattern or cortical activity (in terms of localization, magnitude, spatial extent, and inter-regional connectivity) associated with language processing at the level of closed formal linguistic systems (i.e., phonology, semantics, syntax), as well as with language processing in its broader communicative context (i.e., prosody, discourse, pragmatics). Second, we will relate the developmental changes in the neural networks subserving language processing observed with fMRI, to age-related changes in brain morphometry (in terms of regional volume, gray and white matter concentrations, shape, and asymmetry) as assessed by structural MRI. The findings of the proposed cross-sectional study will form the cornerstone of a longitudinal research program aimed at fully elucidating the neural developments associated with the emergence of mature linguistic competence in normally developing children. Furthermore, these developmental findings will provide normative data for evaluating the patterns of brain dysfunction associated with the linguistic and communicative impairments observed in a variety of developmental disorders (e.g., dyslexia, autism, early-onset schizophrenia). By delineating the relationship among language processing, brain function, and brain structure, this study will begin to bridge the informational gap on the neural basis of language in the normally developing brain. Moreover, the proposed project will highlight how an integrated nature of brain-behavior interactions. At a theoretical level, a deeper understanding of the neural basis of language processing, particularly of how it changes and develops as a function of learning, will enlighten our thinking about the origin and modularity of language.