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.

发育语言障碍（DLD）和自闭症是两种常见的神经发育状况，其中语言获取受到干扰。自闭症会影响儿童如何与世界沟通和互动。每100名儿童中有一个患有自闭症，而有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，其特征是理解和使用语言持续困难。据估计每个教室里的两个孩子都有DLD。语言困难对这些孩子的生活成果产生了严重的影响，限制了学术成就，工作前景以及社会和情感幸福感。可能有助于学习或加剧障碍的一个因素是动机。患有这些条件的孩子通常不喜欢或从事基于语言的任务，例如阅读。这会产生一个恶性循环：那些不擅长语言与语言脱离的人，因此，他们努力地在语言上变得更好。然而，目前的这两种条件的认知模型在很大程度上忽略了动机的作用。了解如何通过改善动力来增强语言学习可以帮助我们从现有或新颖的干预措施中获得更好的结果。在这个项目中，我专注于动机与语言学习之间的联系，以及它们在DLD和自闭症中的破坏。方法的进步，尤其是在脑成像和数学建模方面，现在让我们可以更深入地了解动机。我们可以询问人们发现哪些东西本质上是有益的，并量化了他们将付出多少努力来获取它们。至关重要的是，这些研究表明动机可以增强学习。我计划第一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。我将检查患有DLD和自闭症的孩子是否发现语言学习本质上是有益的，并且可以使用内在动机状态来改善学习。我还将研究外部社会和非社会奖励在语言学习中的作用，评估授予的福利与自闭症的福利是否有所不同。最后，我将制定一项新的任务来量化努力，并评估患有DLD或自闭症的人是否认为语言学习比神经典型的人不值得努力。这项工作将有助于我们了解对学习环境可能需要采取的变化，以支持这些孩子的语言学习。在其他人群（例如ADHD，帕金森氏病）中，动机的差异与大脑中的特定电路有关。我们建议使用类似的成像技术来检查与语言处理和动机有关的神经区域中的大脑结构和功能。这将有助于我们了解哪些区域或网络可能会破坏DLD和自闭症，并使我们更深入地了解组之间的差异（例如，在DLD和自闭症中可能会破坏不同的区域）。此外，从神经科学的角度来看，两个孩子和有语言困难的自闭症患者都对其进行了研究，因此这项工作还将在这些群体中产生有关语言处理的重要信息。总而言之，奖励和动机在学习，跨多种任务和跨物种方面都起着至关重要的作用。然而，他们在语言学习中的作用不足。使用最先进的方法，我将研究DLD，自闭症和典型发展中语言处理与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，并阐明对神经型儿童有效的方法是否在DLD和自闭症中持有。此外，通过了解这些群体中的特定大脑干扰，我们将能够提高我们对这两种情况下的生物学差异的了解。最终，我们可以开发更有针对性的干预措施来增强语言学习，从而改善这些群体的生活成果。