Language and brain development in 4–8 year-old late talkers
Neurolinguistic development in 4 to 8 year-old late talkers with language delay
Researchers will follow children who started talking late to track how their language skills and brain connections change between ages 4 and 8.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Vanderbilt University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Nashville, UNITED STATES) |
| Project ID | NIH-11289403 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If your child started talking later than peers, this project would invite them for language tests and noninvasive brain scans at ages 4, 6, and 8 to watch how skills change over time. Visits include detailed language testing of phonology, meaning (semantics), and grammar (morphology) plus functional MRI tasks that look at receptive language and structural imaging of white matter pathways. The team will compare children who were late talkers with typical talkers and oversample late talkers to improve prediction. The study aims to see how different brain pathways relate to specific language skills and whether one skill (like phonology) helps drive others as children grow.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are 4-year-old children who are late talkers (and some typical talkers for comparison) who can return for follow-up visits at ages 6 and 8 and tolerate MRI and behavioral testing.
Not a fit: Children older than 8, infants, or those who cannot undergo MRI (for example due to metal implants, severe behavioral issues, or inability to attend in-person visits) are unlikely to benefit from participating.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Findings could reveal early brain markers that better predict which late talkers will have lasting language problems, helping target earlier support and therapies.
How similar studies have performed: Only a few retrospective studies exist, so this longitudinal neuroimaging approach in preschool late talkers is relatively novel rather than widely proven.
Where this research is happening
Nashville, UNITED STATES
- Vanderbilt University — Nashville, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Booth, James R — Vanderbilt University
- Study coordinator: Booth, James R
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 below.