Understanding short-term verbal memory in children and adults with Developmental Language Disorder
Official title: Specifying the Short-term Verbal Memory Endophenotype for Developmental Language Disorder
Funded at Father Flanagan's Boys' Home · NIH-11353990 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A study to understand the memory and language links in people with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) across kids and adults.
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 | January 23, 2012 |
| Project end | June 30, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $598,686 |
| NIH project number | 5R01DC011742-13 |
| Project ID | NIH-11353990 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Children and adults with suspected or confirmed Developmental Language Disorder who can participate in language and memory tasks.
✕Less likely to help
Individuals without language impairment or without the ability to participate in memory and language testing.
What this research studies
This project looks at how short-term verbal memory relates to language problems in people with DLD, including both children and adults. Researchers will test how memory, language, and attention interact during spoken tasks like repeating nonwords and phrases, using measurements that can reveal patterns across ages. The goal is to identify markers that help differentiate DLD from other conditions and to understand how early language difficulties might cascade into later language skills. Findings could inform better identification and support strategies for individuals with DLD.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Better identification and understanding of DLD could lead to earlier and more accurate support for people with language difficulties.
How similar studies have gone: Previous research has linked short-term verbal memory to language disorders, supporting the potential for meaningful insights, though this area continues to be actively studied.
Where this research is happening
-
Father Flanagan's Boys' Home
Boys Town, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Mcgregor, Karla — Father Flanagan's Boys' Home
- Study coordinator: Mcgregor, Karla
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
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-
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
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-
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.
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Caregiver actions that support Spanish development in preschool bilingual children at risk for language disorder
This project looks at which everyday caregiver behaviors help Spanish-speaking preschoolers who are emergent bilinguals and may have Developmental Language Disorder keep and grow their home language.
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.