Saturday, December 13, 2025 12/13/2025

Structure-function correspondence in the cortical organization of language

Award Number: F31DC022801
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: FELLOWSHIP/SCHOLARSHIP/STUDENT LOANS
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 01/01/2025
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 12/31/2027

Group Awards By:

View Award Description

Structure-function correspondence in the cortical organization of language - Abstract Characterizing the organization of the language system in individual brains has long been a challenge in both research and clinical practice. Advances in fMRI-based localization of functionally specialized brain regions have revealed that the language areas in individual brains are highly focal and reliably selective in their unique response to language. However, cortical areas are also defined by their unique structural characteristics, and these are not well understood for language areas. To address this knowledge gap, the proposed work will use a structure–function predictive framework to accurately localize language areas in individual brains. This approach will test the hypothesis that cortical language areas are defined by distinct structural features. Aim 1 and Aim 2 both use local architectural features and long-range connectivity profiles to predict the location of a fMRI-defined cortical language area. In Aim 1, an interpretable regression model is used to identify the structural features supporting language computations in the specialized cortical areas. With Aim 2, we instead use a more complex model to localize language areas with very high accuracy, supporting the existence of structure–function correspondence while also providing a useful localization tool with far-reaching applications. Aim 1 and Aim 2 reflect distinct approaches to understanding structure–function correspondence. In Aim 2, the model is capable of extracting complex feature representations and combining information across levels of granularity, which impedes interpretation of the important structural features but supports high accuracy classification. Lastly, in Aim 3, the predictive models are applied to individuals with typical or impaired language skills to understand how cortical arealization relates to interindividual differences in the capacity for language. We hypothesize that accuracy of the structure–function predictions will be significantly associated with language test scores, suggesting a relationship between cortical arealization and behavior. This work will contribute to research and clinical work by (i) providing structural evidence supporting the existence of cortical language areas, (ii) developing new methods for localizing the language network, and (iii) advancing our understanding of the relationship between cortical arealization and language competence.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2026 ( Subtotal = $49,538 )
2026	2026	TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY	85 EAST NEWTON ST # M-921	BOSTON	MA	02118	SUFFOLK	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	2	12/11/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$49,538
														Subtotal = $49,538

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $49,538 )
2025	2025	TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY	85 EAST NEWTON ST # M-921	BOSTON	MA	02118	SUFFOLK	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	001	1	12/12/2024	NEW	$0
2025	2025	TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY	85 EAST NEWTON ST # M-921	BOSTON	MA	02118	SUFFOLK	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	002	1	6/4/2025	NEW	$564
2025	2025	TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY	85 EAST NEWTON ST # M-921	BOSTON	MA	02118	SUFFOLK	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	1	12/12/2024	NEW	$48,974
														Subtotal = $49,538

Grand Total All Awards = $99,076

Top

All Categories

About

Search

Reports

Data Submission

Award Information

Structure-function correspondence in the cortical organization of language

Award Number: F31DC022801

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: FELLOWSHIP/SCHOLARSHIP/STUDENT LOANS

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 01/01/2025

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 12/31/2027

Federal Websites

Department of Health & Human Services

HHS Operating Divisions

HHS Staff Divisions

Download A Document Viewer