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In this project, we adapted the behavioral tasks developed within the project FuncMechanisms to apply them to children. We are currently investigating brain activity during learning from multisensory experiences in healthy children and in children who struggle with written and spoken language. Our goal is to understand the neurobiological causes of difficulties in multisensory processing that are observed in children with learning disorders.
Research project ongoing. Do you wish to participate? See our information below and on the project website
For German click here / Für Deutsch klicken Sie hier.
Efficient integration and processing of multisensory information is fundamental for perception, cognition, learning and language development. Deficits in multisensory processing put children at severe disadvantage and at risk for a variety of neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders. The neurobiological causes of impaired multisensory processing and learning remain largely unknown, but such knowledge is essential to define therapeutic targets and to advance individualized interventions.
Our project provides novel insights into how the structure, activation, and connectivity of brain regions adapt during multisensory learning across early and middle childhood in both healthy children and children with developmental language disorders (DLD). We implement this by applying tasks that assess the integration of different sensory inputs in children with typical development and those with DLD during behavioral and neuroimaging assessments. These tasks were developed in collaboration with the project FuncMechanisms.
So far, we have analyzed data from healthy children across different ages, revealing age-related changes in multisensory processing and improvements in multisensory learning. Additionally, meaningful, congruent audiovisual information facilitated audiovisual speech integration. Data collection in children with DLD is ongoing and will be analyzed soon.
In the first phase of the URRP, we laid the groundwork for longitudinally re-evaluating the study cohorts, which will be conducted in the second phase. Furthermore, we will include children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Through this study, we aim to contribute to improvements in the diagnosis and therapy of children with DLD or ASD. Furthermore, the findings of this study will contribute to a better understanding of the neuronal basis of learning and multisensory processing in children with various language skills.
Principal Investigators: Silvia Brem, Nora Raschle, Anita Rauch, Christian Ruff, Michael von Rhein
Postdocs: Sarah Di Pietro, Plamina Dimanova
PhD Students: Carmen Providoli, Nina Raduner
Di Pietro SV, Karipidis II, Pleisch G, Brem S (2023) Neurodevelopmental trajectories of letter and speech sound processing from preschool to the end of elementary school
Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
Di Pietro SV, Williger D, Frei N, Lutz C, Coraj S, Schneider C, Stämpfli P, Brem S (2023) Disentangling influences of dyslexia, development, and reading experience on effective brain connectivity in children
NeuroImage
Fraga-González G, Di Pietro SV, Pleisch G, Walitza S, Brandeis D, Karipidis II, Brem S (2022)Visual Occipito-Temporal N1 Sensitivity to Digits Across Elementary School.
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
Karipidis II, Pleisch G, Di Pietro SV, Fraga-González G, Brem S (2021) Developmental Trajectories of Letter and Speech Sound Integration During Reading Acquisition.
Frontiers in Psychology
Underlined: AdaBD researchers
