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专门化，即大脑的一侧比另一侧更支持特定的行为认知过程，之前对成年人的研究表明，左半球的语言处理和视觉空间能力的专门化。然而，幼儿似乎更平等地使用两侧大脑，并且在一侧大脑损伤后不会表现出特定的认知障碍。该项目使用行为测试和非侵入性功能性大脑成像来研究行为和大脑功能如何变化。大脑激活模式随着半球专业化的出现，语言和视觉空间能力在 5 岁至 11 岁之间发生变化，每个参与的孩子在测量他们的大脑活动时完成一系列语言和视觉空间任务，从而深入了解大脑激活的个体差异如何与差异相关。该项目的一个关键组成部分包括通过有针对性的演示与幼儿老师分享研究成果，强调我们理解大脑两个半球的科学基础。以及该项目为了解儿童的学习而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关于从早期到中期大脑半球偏侧化发展的时间表以及在此发展过程中如何变化的详细了解。大脑偏侧化的原因主要集中在两个半球之间不同的内在处理偏差，这些偏差使一个半球的工作效率更高。然而，对围产期中风的长期结果的研究表明，在生命早期，年轻大脑的两个半球具有等电位，并且同样能够发展语言和/或空间神经影像功能。表明，典型发育中的儿童在完成引起成人偏侧化激活的任务时具有更多的双侧大脑激活，该项目的研究测试了这样的假设，即典型的偏侧化发展轨迹始于儿童早期的双侧大脑半球激活。侧化随着时间的推移而增加，并在童年晚期达到成熟的侧化模式，研究人员建议使用行为测试和功能磁共振成像（功能磁共振成像）来检查侧化和表现的发展轨迹，这可能会提供见解。深入了解这种发展模式的原因，并帮助我们更好地了解儿童的认知，这对儿童教育具有深远的影响。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。