Neuroimaging Language in the Normally Developing Brain

拟议的研究将使用功能性和结构性磁共振成像（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来定性和量化与封闭的正式语言系统（即，语音学、语义学、句法学），以及在其更广泛的交际环境中的语言处理（即，韵律学、话语学、语用学）。 其次，我们将与功能磁共振成像观察到的语言处理的神经网络的发育变化，年龄相关的变化，在脑形态测量（在区域体积，灰色和白色物质的浓度，形状和不对称性方面）作为结构MRI评估。 建议的横断面研究的结果将形成一个纵向研究计划的基石，旨在充分阐明神经发育与正常发育的儿童出现成熟的语言能力。此外，这些发育研究结果将提供规范性数据，用于评估与各种发育障碍（例如，阅读障碍、自闭症、早发性精神分裂症）。 本研究将开始，通过对语言加工、脑功能和脑结构之间关系的描述，弥合正常发育大脑中语言神经基础上的信息鸿沟。 此外，拟议的项目将突出大脑行为相互作用的综合性质。 在理论层面上，更深入地理解语言处理的神经基础，特别是它如何作为学习的功能而变化和发展，将启发我们对语言起源和模块性的思考。

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.