Project description
Studying babies’ remarkable language learning abilities
For newborn babies, crying seems their only means of verbal expression. Yet, they are competent language learners. Studies show that newborns have access to an exceptional processing system where bits of the speech signal remain encoded to build knowledge of the language around them. In this context, the EU-funded IN-MIND project will explore verbal long-term and working memories as a journey in their development during infancy. It will provide new insights into how memories are initially formed in infancy and sometimes stored for longer periods through the reorganisation of neuronal circuits. The findings will lay the foundation for identifying vulnerabilities as well as the temporal windows in which eventual interventions might be more effective.
Objective
Although infants perform more poorly than adults on many cognitive tasks, they are more competent language learners. Newborns must have access to an exceptional processing system where bits of the -inherently transient- speech signal remain encoded to build knowledge of the language around them. Memory, the ability to hold information in mind that is no longer present in the environment, is one of the most important components of this machinery. As yet, however, what characterizes the first cognitive and neural architectures of memory and if (and to what extent) these mechanisms constraint human language remain largely unexplained. IN-MIND proposes a fresh perspective that particularly emphasizes the study of verbal long-term and working memories as a journey in its development during infancy. The project aims to provide new insights into: i) how memories are formed at birth and sometimes stored for longer periods through the reorganization of neuronal circuits, ii) how infants’ verbal memory capacities and limits vary as their brain evolves in the first months of life, iii) when verbal working memory capacities emerge and whether they account for concurrent and later language outcomes, and iv) to what extent memory measured in the laboratory relates to how language is implemented in the real world. I will address these issues using an innovative and multimodal approach that combines experiments with behavioral techniques, wearable neuroimaging, polysomnography, and naturalistic recording in newborns, typically developing infants and infants at-risk for language impairments. The outcomes of this research may lay the foundation for identifying vulnerabilities in verbal memory capacities as well as the temporal windows in which eventual interventions might be more effective. From a theoretical perspective, IN-MIND will inform debates regarding the origins of human language, by contributing to a more complete description of what makes an infant brain language-ready.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2021-STG
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35122 PADOVA
Italy
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