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Neuro-Cognitive Trajectories of Language and Executive Functioning Co-Developmentin Early Childhood

Award Number: F31HD120062
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: FELLOWSHIP/SCHOLARSHIP/STUDENT LOANS
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 07/25/2025
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 07/24/2028

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Neuro-Cognitive Trajectories of Language and Executive Functioning Co-Developmentin Early Childhood - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Language and executive functioning (EF) are core cognitive skills that provide a foundation for children’s academic, social, and emotional outcomes. Both language and EF co-develop in early childhood, and are supported by overlapping cortical brain networks in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) that undergo protracted and critical maturation during this time. Despite abundant, mostly cross-sectional, evidence on language skills scaffolding EF and vice versa, no study has longitudinally examined early language-EF bidirectional behavioral and neural developmental trajectories using multidimensional assessments. This is a critical gap since understanding how language and EF co-develop and co-support each other in early childhood might provide a crucial insight into how they scaffold each other behaviorally with downstream implications for more fine- grained, targeted, and individualized interventions for young children whose brains are the most malleable to changes during this sensitive period. Additionally, extensive (i.e., similarly, cross-sectional) research demonstrates the integral role of individual differences in children’s early language environments in shaping their language and EF skills at various points across preschool years. However, there is no study, to date, examining how individual variation in children’s early experiences relates to growth in their language and EF skills longitudinally, both behaviorally and neurocognitively. Therefore, this project will allow for the comprehensive examination of these gaps by involving training from an interdisciplinary mentorship team with expertise in each domain of interest to promote my training throughout the proposal. Specifically, I propose to: (Aim 1) characterize bidirectional associations between early language and EF behaviorally across preschool years; (Aim 2) examine bidirectional relationships between neural activation underlying early language and EF co-development; (Aim 3) determine whether and how individual variation in children’s early language experiences relates to their language and EF developmental trajectories both behaviorally and neurocognitively across early childhood. The data collection for these proposed aims is ongoing such that data for Time 1 is on track to be complete by the grant start date (September 2025), and data for Time 2 will be ~50% complete by the grant start date and fully collected by the end of year 1 of the grant period (end of Summer 2026). Through the outlined training activities and support from my collaborators, I will gain the necessary knowledge and skills that will allow me to continue examining how preschoolers’ early linguistic environments shape their language and cognitive developmental trajectories to maximally inform early interventions that support children’s academic success and well-being.


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 = $50,114 )
2026	2026	UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK	3112 LEE BUILDING	COLLEGE PARK	MD	20742	PRINCE GEORGES	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	2	6/22/2026	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$50,114
														Subtotal = $50,114

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $49,538 )
2025	2025	UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK	3112 LEE BUILDING	COLLEGE PARK	MD	20742	PRINCE GEORGES	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	1	7/24/2025	NEW	$49,538
2025	2025	UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK	3112 LEE BUILDING	COLLEGE PARK	MD	20742	PRINCE GEORGES	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	001	1	7/24/2025	NEW	$0
														Subtotal = $49,538

Grand Total All Awards = $99,652

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Neuro-Cognitive Trajectories of Language and Executive Functioning Co-Developmentin Early Childhood

Award Number: F31HD120062

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: FELLOWSHIP/SCHOLARSHIP/STUDENT LOANS

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 07/25/2025

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 07/24/2028

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