Electrophysiological Indices of Attention in Language Processing

描述(由申请人提供)：越来越多的证据表明，注意力和工作记忆障碍可能会导致特定语言障碍(SLI)和口吃的发展。然而，这些功能的损害如何与沟通发展的语言和运动方面相互作用，创造每种疾病的独特临床特征，仍未得到研究。了解注意力和工作记忆在发展性沟通障碍中的作用的一个有效和创新的方法可能是对典型发育儿童、SLI儿童和口吃儿童的这些功能进行比较研究。普渡大学言语、语言和听觉科学学院(SLHS)和心理科学学院(PSYC)之间的密切合作为典型和混乱的言语和语言发展提供了大量的专业知识，因此为这种比较方法提供了一个极好的机会。此外，SLI和口吃的注意力和工作记忆问题与多个SLH和PSYC教员的研究计划高度相关，但目前这些系中还没有一个实验室专注于这些问题。对注意力和工作记忆在发育性言语-语言障碍中的作用的研究可能特别适合于电生理学方法，因为它已经确立了研究这些认知过程的方法，而且它易于在儿童身上使用。因此，这项申请的目标是聘请Natalya Kaganovich博士为终身教职助理教授，同时担任SLHS和PSYC的联合职位，重点研究发育性沟通障碍中注意力和工作记忆的行为和电生理指标。卡加诺维奇博士是SLHS和PSYC的博士后研究员，他已经开始研究与注意力和工作记忆有关的问题，这些问题涉及典型的发育障碍和言语障碍儿童和成年人。在利用现有教员的专业知识的同时，她将能够创建一个研究计划，不仅在SLHS和PSYC现有领域之间建立新的联系，而且还对具有重大公共卫生意义的研究做出贡献。 公共卫生相关性：拟议的教师招聘将促进SLHS和PSYC教职员工之间的跨学科合作，旨在了解注意力和工作记忆在发展性沟通障碍(如SLI和口吃)中的作用。由此产生的研究结果将有助于创造更适合患有这些障碍的儿童的认知需求的干预技术。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Increasing evidence suggests that disturbances in attention and working memory may contribute to the development of specific language impairment (SLI) and stuttering. However, how a detriment in these functions interacts with both linguistic and motor aspects of communication development in creating the unique clinical profile of each disorder remains uninvestigated. One productive and innovative approach to understanding the role of attention and working memory in developmental communication disorders may be a comparative study of these functions in typically developing children, children with SLI, and children who stutter. A strong collaboration between the faculty of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences (SLHS) and Psychological Sciences (PSYC) at Purdue provides a tremendous pool of expertise in both typical and disordered speech and language development and thus presents an excellent opportunity for such a comparative approach. Further, the issues of attention and working memory in SLI and stuttering are highly relevant to the research programs of multiple SLHS and PSYC faculty, yet not a single laboratory in these departments presently focuses on these questions. Research into the role of attention and working memory in developmental speech-language disorders may be especially amenable to the electrophysiological approach because of its well-established methods for investigating these cognitive processes and its ease of use with children. Therefore, the goal of this application is to hire Dr. Natalya Kaganovich as a tenure-track assistant professor with a joint appointment in SLHS and PSYC and with a research focus on the behavioral and electrophysiological indices of attention and working memory in developmental communication disorders. Dr. Kaganovich is a post-doctoral researcher in SLHS and PSYC and has already begun to investigate questions related to attention and working memory in both typically developing and speech disordered children and adults. While drawing on the expertise of the current faculty, she would be able to create a research program that not only forges new connections between existing areas of SLHS and PSYC, but also contributes to research of significant public health relevance. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The proposed faculty hire will foster interdisciplinary collaboration between the faculty of SLHS and PSYC aimed at understanding the role of attention and working memory in developmental communication disorders, such as SLI and stuttering. Resultant research findings will help create Intervention techniques that are better suited to the cognitive needs of children with these disorders.