Thursday, April 3, 2025
4/3/2025
Language and the cerebellum - PROJECT SUMMARY The cerebellum has long been thought to solely process motor information. Yet, there is a growing literature that points to the role of the cerebellum in cognition and emotion. Individuals with cerebellar lesions can have deficits in executive functioning, emotion processing, language, and social cognition. Multiple neuropsychiatric disorders, including autism spectrum disorder and dyslexia, have been linked to abnormal cerebellar processing. Numerous functional magnetic resonance imaging studies have shown neural responses in the cerebellum related to a host of non-motor tasks. These findings provide evidence that the cerebellum is involved in a range of non-motor tasks. The focus of this grant proposal is to investigate cerebellar functions in a subcomponent of language: syntax. Computational models suggest that the cerebellum is involved in detecting sequential structure and in generating predictions about what will come next. Both of these functions are essential for syntax. Interestingly, case studies have reported agrammatism following cerebellar lesions. In this grant proposal, I will use functional MRI and dynamic causal modeling to investigate the cerebellum’s role in syntax and verbal working memory and to investigate the extended functional network that underlies these functions. Syntax will be compared to verbal working memory because a large body of research suggests an important role of the cerebellum in working memory, and there is some overlap in the processing demands of syntax and working memory. Thus, it is important to parse these functions apart. The training plan for this proposal includes training in functional MRI design and analysis by experts in syntax and the cerebellum. It also includes training on dynamic causal modeling, a modeling technique used to compare causal models of brain function. Dynamic causal modeling will allow us to directly test theories on the cerebellum’s connectivity with the cerebrum. These findings will provide insight into the cerebellum’s mechanistic role in syntax. With this better understanding, a new framework can be developed for linguistic processes that have long been nebulously linked to cerebellar function.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).