Brain differences in the thinking and memory networks of children with developmental language disorder
Official title: Brain structural and functional abnormalities in the executive function network in children with developmental language disorder
Funded at Father Flanagan's Boys' Home · NIH-11319877 · Data updated 2026-11-12
The team will look at brain structure and activity in children and teens with developmental language disorder to link thinking and language difficulties.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Father Flanagan's Boys' Home NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boys Town, United States) |
| Project start | April 10, 2025 |
| Project end | March 31, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $549,245 |
| NIH project number | 5R01DC022081-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11319877 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are school-age children and adolescents diagnosed with developmental language disorder who can complete MRI scans and short cognitive tests.
✕Less likely to help
People without a DLD diagnosis, infants too young for MRI, or anyone who cannot safely or comfortably undergo MRI (for example due to metal implants or severe claustrophobia) are unlikely to benefit from participating.
What this research studies
If your child takes part, they would get brain scans (MRI) and simple thinking and memory tests to see how brain structure and activity relate to language problems. The researchers will compare these scans and test results to those from children without language difficulties to find patterns in the executive function and working memory networks. They will analyze how brain connections and activity relate to performance on everyday language and attention tasks. The goal is to understand which brain differences are tied to ongoing language and thinking problems so future treatments can be more targeted.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could identify brain markers that help tailor interventions and improve language and cognitive outcomes for people with DLD.
How similar studies have gone: Some prior brain-imaging work has shown differences in language-related areas in DLD, but linking executive function and working memory networks to language symptoms is a newer and less-explored approach.
Where this research is happening
-
Father Flanagan's Boys' Home
Boys Town, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Doucet, Gaelle Eve — Father Flanagan's Boys' Home
- Study coordinator: Doucet, Gaelle Eve
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Retrieval-based Word Learning for Young Children with Developmental Language Disorder
A project helps 4- to 5-year-olds with language disorder learn new words more effectively using memory-based learning tricks.
-
Predicting Developmental Language Delay in Young Children
A study of young children to identify early signs that predict developmental language delay, using timing and processing measures from two new language screening tools.
-
Understanding how infants’ early speech becomes language skills and how it might signal language disorders
This grant studies how a baby’s brain learns sounds in the first year of life and whether early patterns can predict and prevent language disorders.
-
Language in adults with and without Developmental Language Disorder
This grant helps researchers study how language abilities develop and change in adults with and without developmental language disorder to improve understanding and support.
-
Understanding short-term verbal memory in children and adults with Developmental Language Disorder
A study to understand the memory and language links in people with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) across kids and adults.
-
Computer-assisted bilingual vocabulary help for kids with language disorder
A computer-assisted program helps monolingual clinicians teach bilingual Spanish-English vocabulary to emergent bilingual children with developmental language disorder.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.