ERC FUNDED PROJECTS

Infant is the most powerful learner: He learns in a few months to master language, complex social interactions, etc. Powerful statistical algorithms, simultaneously acting at the different levels of functional hierarchies have been proposed to explain learning. I propose here that two other elements are crucial. The first is the particular human cerebral architecture that constrains statistical computations. The second is the human’s ability to access a rich symbolic system. I have planned 6 work packages using the complementary information offered by non-invasive brain-imaging techniques (EEG, MRI and optical topography) to understand the neural bases of infant statistical computations and symbolic competence from 6 months of gestation up until the end of the first year of life. WP1 studies from which preterm age, statistical inferences can be demonstrated using hierarchical auditory oddball paradigms. WP2 investigates the consequences of a different pre-term environment (in-utero versus ex-utero) on the early statistical computations in the visual and auditory domains and their consequences on the ongoing brain activity along the first year of life. WP3 explores the neural bases of how infants infer word meaning and word category, and in particular the role of the left perisylvian areas and of their particular connectivity. WP4 questions infant symbolic competency. I propose several criteria (generalization, bidirectionality, use of algebraic rules and of logical operations) tested in successive experiments to clarify infant symbolic abilities during the first semester of life. WP5-6 are transversal to WP1-4: WP5 uses MRI to obtain accurate functional localization and maturational markers correlated with functional results. In WP6, we develop new tools to combine and analyse multimodal brain images. With this proposal, I hope to clarify the specificities of a neural functional architecture that are critical for human learning from the onset of cortical circuits.

2 554 924 €

Start date: 2016-09-01, End date: 2021-08-31

Learning to read is probably one of the most exciting discoveries in our life. Using a longitudinal approach, the research proposed examines how the human brain responds to two major challenges: (a) the instantiation a complex cognitive function for which there is no genetic blueprint (learning to read in a first language, L1), and (b) the accommodation to new statistical regularities when learning to read in a second language (L2). The aim of the present research project is to identify the neural substrates of the reading process and its constituent cognitive components, with specific attention to individual differences and reading disabilities; as well as to investigate the relationship between specific cognitive functions and the changes in neural activity that take place in the course of learning to read in L1 and in L2. The project will employ a longitudinal design. We will recruit children before they learn to read in L1 and in L2 and track reading development with both cognitive and neuroimaging measures over 24 months. The findings from this project will provide a deeper understanding of (a) how general neurocognitive factors and language specific factors underlie individual differences – and reading disabilities– in reading acquisition in L1 and in L2; (b) how the neuro-cognitive circuitry changes and brain mechanisms synchronize while instantiating reading in L1 and in L2; (c) what the limitations and the extent of brain plasticity are in young readers. An interdisciplinary and multi-methodological approach is one of the keys to success of the present project, along with strong theory-driven investigation. By combining both we will generate breakthroughs to advance our understanding of how literacy in L1 and in L2 is acquired and mastered. The research proposed will also lay the foundations for more applied investigations of best practice in teaching reading in first and subsequent languages, and devising intervention methods for reading disabilities.

2 487 000 €

Start date: 2012-05-01, End date: 2017-04-30

The promise of cognitive neuroscience is truly exciting – to link mind and brain in order to reveal the neural basis of higher cognitive functions. This is crucial, scientifically, if we are to understand the nature of mental processes and how they arise from neural machinery but also, clinically, if we are to establish the basis of neurological patients’ impairments, their clinical management and treatment. Cognitive-clinical neuroscience depends on three ingredients: (a) investigating complex mental behaviours and the underlying cognitive processes; (b) mapping neural systems and their function; and (c) methods and tools that can bridge the gap between brain and mental behaviour. Experimental psychology and behavioural neurology has delivered the first component. In vivo neuroimaging and other allied technologies allow us to probe and map neural systems, their connectivity and neurobiological responses. The principal aim of this ERC Advanced grant is to secure, for the first time, the crucial third ingredient – the methods and tools for bridging systematically between cognitive science and systems neuroscience. The grant will be based on two main activities: (i) convergence of methods – instead of employing each neuroscience and cognitive method independently, they will be planned and executed simultaneously to force a convergence of results; and (ii) development of a new type of neurocomputational model - to provide a novel formalism for bridging between brain and cognition. Computational models are used in cognitive science to mimic normal and impaired behaviour. Such models also have an as-yet untapped potential to connect neuroanatomy and cognition: latent in every model is a kind of brain-mind duality – each model is based on a computational architecture which generates behaviour. We will retain the ability to simulate detailed cognitive behaviour but simultaneously make the models’ architecture reflect systems-level neuroanatomy and function.

2 294 781 €

Start date: 2016-01-01, End date: 2020-12-31

"150 years after Broca's seminal statement "Nous parlons avec l'hémisphère gauche" we still do not know how or why we have this bias. I propose that by studying cases of impaired language development and combining genetic and neuropsychological approaches we will be able to make a leap forward in our understanding of the quintessentially human characteristic of functional cerebral asymmetry. I argue that contradictory findings in the literature may be reconciled if we adopt a novel approach to cerebral asymmetry. In particular, I propose a network efficiency hypothesis which maintains that optimal development depends on organisation of key language functions within the same cerebral hemisphere. In project A, I will combine behavioural measures with functional transcranial Doppler ultrasound (fTCD) measures of blood flow and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to identify individual differences in patterns of dissociation between language functions in lateralisation. In project B I will test the prediction that risk for language and literacy impairment is increased if different language functions are represented in opposite hemispheres. For project C, simulations of predictions from genetic models will be tested using data on twin-cotwin similarity in language lateralisation. Project D will test a 'double hit' genetic model that predicts that neurodevelopmental abnormalities, including language deficits and inconsistent asymmetry, arise when there is more than one hit on a functional brain circuit. For this study we will use an existing sample of individuals already known to have one 'hit' on the neuroligin-neurexin circuit, viz people with an additional dose of neuroligin caused by an extra sex chromosome. Project E will focus on individuals with inconsistent patterns of language laterality and will look for rare genetic mutations and structural rearrangements associated with a departure from consistent left hemisphere language."

2 497 907 €

Start date: 2016-10-01, End date: 2021-09-30