Current Studies
The participants in our studies consist of parent and child volunteers who graciously offer their time and assistance. If you choose to participate, private visits to our lab will be scheduled at times that are convenient for you. Our researchers are committed to making your visit a pleasant and fun learning experience!
We invite you to look around our website. If you have a baby under 18 months of age and are interested in participating in one of our studies, feel free to contact us by phone or email or complete our convenient online form and will will contact you. We look forward to hearing from you!
Dynamics of rapid auditory and visual processing:
Relationships to infant language development
EEG/ERP, Eye-tracker, and Behavioral Measures
*ACTIVELY RECRUITING*
Participants: 6 month olds
How do the auditory and visual systems develop over the first year of life, and in what ways do sensory processing skills contribute to language learning?
The purpose of this study is to investigate developmental changes in the processing of auditory and visual information, and the contribution of these skills to language and cognition in typically developing children. We are particularly interested in how infants detect small, rapid changes in sounds and images, and whether their brains use similar processing strategies for the visual and auditory modalities. Using a combination of electroencephalography (EEG), eye-tracker, and behavioral techniques, we hope to characterize how the auditory and visual systems work together to support language learning.
Optimizing Information Processing in Infants Who Have a Relative with Language Impairment, Dyslexia, ASD or ADHD
EEG/ERP, Eye-tracker, and Behavioral Measures
*ACTIVELY RECRUITING*
Participants: 4-18 month olds who have a parent or sibling who has been diagnosed with speech/language disorder, reading disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder or Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder
Does auditory training during the first year of life help infants become more efficient at processing the sounds most important for speech and language development?
Previous research in our lab has shown that infants who are born into a family with a history of language-based learning problems often process sounds differently from children who do not have a relative with such difficulties. Thus, they are at higher risk of having language-learning deficits themselves. Nonetheless, a longitudinal study completed in our lab demonstrated that early auditory training had a positive impact on the accuracy and speed of discrimination of key acoustic cues that are critical for setting up language and ongoing language development. We are studying how this early listening experience might support and enhance acoustic processing for infants in these higher risk categories, thus optimizing later language outcomes.
Will interactive acoustic experience optimize rapid auditory processing and prelinguistic acoustic mapping critical to later language in infants at familial risk for autism?
EEG/ERP, Eye-tracker, and Behavioral Measures
*ACTIVELY RECRUITING*
Participants: 4-month-old siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD)
Why are language abilities often affected in ASD, and how can we strengthen early precursors of language acquisition to improve language abilities in infants at familial risk for ASD?
Significant increases in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have been reported in the US with an even larger increase in diagnoses seen within New Jersey. Due to its high heritability, about 20% of younger siblings of children diagnosed with ASD are at risk for the disorder and will also develop ASD. Language deficits frequently accompany ASD, with many children showing language delays as early as 12 months of age. Further, about one-third of the siblings not diagnosed with ASD, will also have language delays. The long-term objective of this research is to support early language development in children at familial risk for ASD in order to improve later language outcomes.
One important step to achieve this goal is to understand why language abilities may be affected in ASD. During typical development, the infant brain is actively involved in constructing a precise representation or “map” of the native language. These critical acoustic maps allow the child to process incoming language sounds quickly and efficiently. To create accurate maps, infants must be able to discriminate fast, successive changes in auditory sounds that occur in fractions of milliseconds. The fact that language issues emerge very early in infants at familial risk for ASD, may suggest these problems are related to poorer processing of fast auditory information and/or inadequate establishment of acoustic maps.
The Infancy Studies Laboratory at the Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience at Rutgers, Newark, has developed a 6-week acoustic training protocol to provide support for prelinguistic mapping enhancing infant auditory processing speed and attention. Starting at 4 months of age infants engage in this interactive, baby-friendly game that encourages them to discriminate between sounds that become increasingly faster and more complex. The training protocol has proved successful in improving acoustic mapping and processing speed in typically developing infants. This intervention offers the promise of ameliorating or perhaps even preventing the disrupted language acquisition seen in ASD.
Spontaneous Sleep in Infants
EEG/ERP and Behavioral Measures
*RECRUITMENT COMPLETE*
(data analysis in process)
Participants: 3 - 9 month olds
What’s happening in your child’s brain while he or she sleeps? How is that different from your (adult) brain while you sleep? How do these brain waves mature over time?
The purpose of our study is to measure infant brain wave patterns during natural sleep (naptime) using electroencephalogram (EEG) at 3.5 and 6.5 months of age. Our objective is to characterize the brain waves occurring in infants during natural sleep, examine how different areas of the brain communicate with one another, and determine if the brainwave patterns identified are associated with behavioral measures, such as temperament, motor, and early cognitive skills.
Complex Auditory Brainstem Processing in Early Development
cABR and Behavioral Measures
*RECRUITMENT COMPLETE*
(data analysis in process)
Participants: 3 - 24 month olds
How do the brain’s peripheral auditory processing networks develop during infancy, and how are they related to emerging language skills?
The purpose of this study is to help us characterize the developmental trajectory of brainstem responses to speech and speech-in-noise over the first two years of life by measuring auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) via several electrodes placed on the scalp as an earpiece provides auditory stimuli. From this study we hope to delineate the relevance of brainstem measures to emerging speech and language behaviors.
Dynamic Brain Development: A Resting-State fMRI Study
MRI combined with EEG/ERP and Behavioral Measures
*RECRUITMENT COMPLETE*
(data analysis in process)
Participants: 6 month olds
How can experiences change brain functions and emerging behaviors in infants? Experience-induced plasticity is a key to successful learning during development.
This project primarily aims to delineate the effect of short-term auditory exposure on functional brain networks, particularly those involved in auditory processing, in infants. We combine naturally sleeping MRI with EEG/ERP and behavioral measures. This approach allows us to deepen our understanding of the development of brain-behavior relationships in infants.