Research
Neuroimaging of language and developmental disorders
Appointments
- Professor, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences
- Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior
- Associate Professor, Center for Autism Research and Treatment (CART)
- Member, Neuroscience IDP
- Brain Research Institute
Biography
My main research interests focus on the neural representation of language and social cognition. Using neuroimaging techniques (functional MRI, and, more recently, structural MRI and event related potentials, ERP), my research seeks to
(1) delineate how brain maturation and the development of language and social cognition co-occur in the typically developing brain,
(2) qualify the patterns of brain dysfunction in developmental disorders such as autism, childhood onset schizophrenia, and dyslexia, and
(3) examine the neural basis of linguistic and communicative functions in the adult brain since studies on adults provide a normative developmental endpoint for our developmental investigations and can also address issues of brain plasticity.
Publications
- Dickinson, A, McDonald, N, Dapretto, M, Campos, E, Senturk, D, Jeste, S et al.. Accelerated Infant Brain Rhythm Maturation in Autism. Dev Sci. 2025;28 (1):e13593. doi: 10.1111/desc.13593. PubMed PMID:39704490 PubMed Central PMC11686827.
- Wagner, L, Banchik, M, Tsang, T, Okada, NJ, Altshuler, R, McDonald, N et al.. Atypical Neural Responses to Native and Non-Native Language in Infants at High Likelihood for Developing Autism. Res Sq. 2024; :. doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5190659/v1. PubMed PMID:39678338 PubMed Central PMC11643322.
- Gross, RS, Thaweethai, T, Kleinman, LC, Snowden, JN, Rosenzweig, EB, Milner, JD et al.. Characterizing Long COVID in Children and Adolescents. JAMA. 2024;332 (14):1174-88. doi: 10.1001/jama.2024.12747. PubMed PMID:39196964 PubMed Central PMC11339705.
- Aziz-Zadeh, L, Mayer, E, Labus, J, Ringold, S, Jayashankar, A, Kilroy, E et al.. Relationships between tryptophan-related gut metabolites, brain activity, and autism symptomatology. Res Sq. 2024; :. doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4559624/v1. PubMed PMID:39108481 PubMed Central PMC11302680.
- Arutiunian, V, Santhosh, M, Neuhaus, E, Sullivan, CAW, Bernier, RA, Bookheimer, SY et al.. A common genetic variant in the Neurexin family member CNTNAP2 is related to language but not communication skills in youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Autism Res. 2024; :. doi: 10.1002/aur.3193. PubMed PMID:38984666 PubMed Central PMC11717989.