Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA
2011– 2013
Principal Investigator: Gottfried Schlaug, MD, PhD
Using Auditory-Motor Mapping Training to Facilitate Speech Output in Nonverbal Children with Autism: An Intervention and Imaging Study
Language deficits represent the core diagnostic features of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). In some cases, language deficits are observed after an apparently normal onset, while in others, language abilities never develop at all (Tager-Flusberg, 2003). Up to 25% of individuals with ASD lack the ability to communicate with others using speech sounds. Despite their verbal communication deficits, children with ASD often display enhanced music and auditory-perception abilities (Bonnel et al., 2003; Heaton, 2003). In addition, they enjoy auditory-motor activities such as making music, through singing or playing an instrument (Trevarthen et al., 1996). Such positive responses to music suggest that an intonation- or singing-based intervention may have significant therapeutic potential. Dr. Schlaug’s laboratory has successfully used an intervention known as Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT) to facilitate speech output in stroke patients with Broca’s aphasia, who initially struggled to speak. Recently, they have also developed a similar therapy that is adapted for children with ASD. At present, there are no established techniques that reliably improve speech in nonverbal children with ASD (Francis, 2005). Two published case studies (Miller & Toca, 1979; Hoelzley, 1993) as well as Dr. Schlaug’s preliminary data from a number of nonverbal children with ASD have shown that an intonation-based technique has great potential. This research examines the potential utility of a novel intervention termed auditory-motor mapping training (AMMT), in assisting nonverbal children with ASD to develop speech. This intervention has significant therapeutic potential for at least three reasons. First, it capitalizes on the inherent musical strengths of children with ASD, and offers activities that they intrinsically enjoy. Second, it engages and potentially modifies a network of brain regions that may be dysfunctional in ASD (Lahav et al., 2007; Wan, Demaine, Zipse et al., 2010; Wan & Schlaug, 2010). Finally, AMMT is an adaptation of MIT that has been successful in facilitating speech output in stroke patients who previously struggled to speak. In addition, secondary to determining the efficacy of AMMT as an intervention for nonverbal children with ASD, the investigators also aim to examine whether the severe language deficits in these nonverbal children are due to abnormalities in certain language pathways of the brain. They will be using structural brain imaging techniques such as diffusion tensor imaging to answer this question.
Gottfried Schlaug
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston , MA
2006-2010
Principal Investigator: Alvaro Pascual-Leone, MD, Ph.D.
Improving Language Skills in Autism
Spectrum Disorder by Modulating Prefrontal Activity Noninvasively
This project focuses on improving language abilities of individuals
with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) by using repetitive transcranial
magnetic stimulation (rTMS). rTMS is a non-invasive way to
induce a controlled amount of current in the living human
brain and use it to explore the way in which brain regions
interact to generate behavior. The investigators believe that
language abilities of individuals with ASD are abnormal because
connections between certain brain regions do not function
normally early in life and development results in progressive
maladaptive changes that account for symptoms of disease.
These abnormal connections may relate to a dysfunction in
mirror neurons, which help us understand actions of others
and are critical for language acquisition. Research shows
that mirror neuron function is abnormal in individuals with
ASD. In humans a vast number of mirror neurons are in Broca's
region, a part of the brain that is fundamental for speech
and language. The investigators believe that dysfunction of
mirror cells in this region leads to a faulty connectivity
between Broca's region and other language areas in both halves
of the brain and account for core deficits in individuals
with ASD. Studies in patients with abnormal language due to
a stroke affecting Broca's area (aphasia) reveal that modifying
activity in the pars triangularis of the frontal operculum
with rTMS improves language even after more than 10 years
of aphasia. The investigators will use rTMS to change the activity in the pars triangularis in individuals with ASD
with the hypothesis that it will lead to a language improvement.
It is hoped that this study will provide an improved understanding
of the cause of language deficits in ASD and will lead to
the development of a new treatment strategy that will improve
communication skills and social interactions of those with
ASD.
Alvaro Pascual-Leone
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
2009-2011
Principal Investigator: Deb Roy, Ph.D.
Language Development and Outcome in Children with Autism
Language development in typical children follows specific developmental sequences and demonstrates inherent biases at certain stages. It is not known to what degree language development in children with autism follows the same developmental rules or achieves language comprehension via different routes. This project begins a collaboration between a developmental psycholinguist specializing in typical and atypical language development, Letitia Naigles, and a cognitive scientist, Deb Roy. The project will build on a parent NIH-funded project led by Naigles that investigates whether the processes of language acquisition and development in autism are similar to that of typically developing children, and what language comprehension measures reveal about the processes and products of language acquisition in children with autism. A "Speechome Recorder", developed by the Roy's team, will be employed to collect ecologically valid, dense samples of child speech and visual context, which will then be analyzed using novel algorithms to reveal children's developing transition from context-boundedness to extendability. Six families already participating in the parent longitudinal study (three with a child with autism, three with a typically developing child) will have a Speechome Recorder installed in one room of their home for up to 12 months. The Speechome Recorder will make daily recordings, 2-3 hours in duration, of the target child's speech, social activity, and physical activity, as well as of the speech and activity of others in the room with the child. Entropy and grammatical analyses of the utterances and their contexts will reveal the extent to which children use their speech about more varied referents, in response to more varied utterances and prompts, and in more varied social situations, across time. These findings will be compared with comprehension measures from the parent project, and will be used as additional early predictors of ASD children's language abilities at ages 6-8.
Deb Roy
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
2010-2012
Principal Investigator: Matthew Goodwin, Ph.D.
Career Development Award
Matthew Goodwin’s research plan to be covered by this Career Development Award includes:
(1) Developing, supervising, conducting, evaluating, and disseminating autism technology and related research;
(2) Building infrastructure and a coordinated program of research and educational activities under the auspices of MIT’s Autism and Communication Technology Initiative;
(3) Engaging in advanced psychophysiological and statistical training opportunities; and
(4) Developing a competitive academic portfolio to obtain an eventual tenure-track faculty or equivalent research scientist position.
Matthew Goodwin
Oregon Health and Science University , Portland ,OR
2008 -2011
Principal Investigator: Deniz Erdogmus, Ph.D. and Lois Black, Ph.D.
ERP Based Communication Device for Nonverbal Children on the
Autism Spectrum
Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) exhibit varying levels
of communication abilities. In this project, the investigator
will address the communication needs of the subset that:
1) lack expressive speech and language; 2) lack ability
to operate a keyboard, pointing device, or other typical
assistive interface; and 3) are assumed to have adequate
cognition, literacy, and receptive language understanding.
This research aims to develop a communication system for
such children. Resulting technology could also benefit other
children and adults with adequate cognition but limited
communication options. The investigator will develop an
assistive communication facilitation device referred to
as the RSVP Keyboard. It unites three technologies: 1) Rapid
serial visual presentation (RSVP, with individually adjustable
presentation rates) of letters/words/phrases; 2) a yes/no
intent detection mechanism based on detecting evoked-response
potentials (ERP) in the brain to determine which target
letter or letters the child wants to convey; 3) a statistical
language model based dynamic sequencing optimization procedure
that computes which letter needs to be presented next to
take advantage of regularities in language. The system will
operate by showing the sequence of candidate letters on
the screen as well as previously typed text, such that words
and phrases are formed naturally by adding selected letters.
The first goal is to test the viability of the basic concept
of facilitated communication through the RSVP Keyboard System.
Upon demonstration of feasibility through neuroimaging and
statistical analysis of brain responses to RSVP stimuli
sequences, the investigator will evaluate performances of
typically developing children and nonverbal children with
ASD in three interactive cognitive tasks.
Deniz Erdogmus
Syracuse University, Institute on Communication and Inclusion, Syracuse, NY
2010-2011
Principal Investigator: Douglas Biklen, Ph.D.
Core Funding for the Institute on Communication and Inclusion
This grant to the Institute on Communication and Inclusion (formerly the Facilitated Communication Institute) provides core funding for research, demonstration/training, and dissemination of public information about Facilitated Communication (FC), augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and inclusion strategies. The core activities for 2010-2011 include: organizing an international symposium of research on literacy and AAC, including FC; updating web content on research, policy, and model practices; enhancing the visibility of FC and of individuals who can type without physical support or who can speak before and as they type; organizing the fifth annual Summer Institute on FC, AAC and inclusion strategies; providing model approaches for supporting adults to communicate, including support for FC users in higher education; providing support to professionals who are introducing content on FC into mainstream policy, literature, literacy, school reform, and related fields; creating an adult support group for individuals who use FC as their primary means of expression; increasing training for young students; providing on-site consultation and training support to local FC users; continuing to expand the participation of FC users in training activities; and engaging master trainers in providing training opportunities. This grant will provide support for an Assistant Professor, one doctoral student to intern at the Institute, training consultants for national workshops, a FC trainer on staff at the Institute, and provide funding for basic operational activities.
Click here to read the NLMFF Interview with Dr. Biklen
Institute on Communication and Inclusion (formerly the Facilitated Communication Institute)
University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
2008-2010
Principal Investigator: Jose Alcantara, Ph.D. and Christian Fullgrabe, Ph.D.
Psychophysical and Speech Perception Studies in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders
One
of the remarkable properties of speech perception is its
high resilience to the corrupting influences of background
sounds. Everyday experience tells us that, even in noisy
acoustic environments, we are able to understand speech,
with little or no effort on our part. It appears that the
human auditory system has developed useful strategies or
mechanisms to optimize the saliency of the speech signal.
Some of these mechanisms involve processing that occurs
at very low levels of the auditory system, including the
hearing end organ - the cochlea. Others occur at higher
levels, up to and including the auditory cortex, and beyond.
However, it is clear that the low-level processing stages
are important, particularly for our perception of loudness,
and the detection of speech in noise. Individuals with autism
appear to react aversively to sounds, and have difficulty
understanding speech when there are competing sounds present.
Currently, we are not certain whether these symptoms are
due to alterations in low- or high-level auditory processing.
However, the evidence for the former is compelling, although
we do not as yet know the nature of the underlying mechanisms
responsible for the observed speech-in-noise deficits and
atypical loudness perception. This project involves a series
of behavioral and objective studies of auditory perception
using both simple and complex stimuli to identify those
mechanisms responsible for the perceptual difficulties experienced
by individuals with autism. The results of the project have
the potential to lead to the development of new screening
tools for auditory sensitivity in autism, which will be
important not only for improved clinical diagnosis, but
also for the use in epidemiological and genetic research
into autism, and may also help in the design of digital
speech processing algorithms to compensate for auditory
processing abnormalities.
University
of Cambridge, Laboratory for Research into Autism
University of Wisconsin- Madison, Madison, WI
2008
-2009
Principal Investigator: Morton Gernsbacher, Ph.D. and Hill Goldsmith, Ph.D.
The Neuroanatomical Origin of Severe Speech Impairment in Autism
Autistic individuals' delay and, for some, continued impairment in
speech are typically ascribed to intellectual impairments
or social affiliation deficits. Indeed, autistic individuals
whose speech does not develop to fluency are often referred
to as "low functioning," and are sure to be disadvantaged
on many measures of intelligence. However, when assessed
without demand on speech production, minimally fluent autistic
individuals excel on the pre-eminent test of fluid intelligence.
Similarly, although theoretical speculations continue to
misperceive autism as an attachment disorder, all empirical
studies demonstrate that autistic individuals are as securely
attached to their primary caregivers as their peers.
In contrast to socio-emotional or intellectual attributions
for autistic individuals' severe speech impairment, the
research of Gernsbacher and colleagues has implicated oral-
and manual-motor development. It should be noted that language
is the mental representation of concepts, whereas speech
is literally the articulation of language. Speaking fluently
requires "an intricate orchestration" of oral-motor mechanisms.
The prominent associations among oral- and manual-motor
skills and speech fluency which Gernsbacher and colleagues
have documented in previous research, bear striking implications
for appreciating communication impairment in autism. For
instance, these associations challenge the common assumption
that manual modes of communication, including those that
require keyboarding, are available to autistic individuals
- if simply they choose to use them.
This project is motivated by two important findings: (1)
a neuroanatomical marker of individuals with speech impairment,
and (2) a manual-motor behavioral marker of individuals
with severe speech impairment that could be related to the
neuroanatomical marker. Therefore, the purpose of the project
is to explore the inter-relations among speech fluency,
neuroanatomical structure, and manual dominance.
Laboratory
of Morton Ann Gernsbacher
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