Dr Claudia Männel | Finding words and rules: Neurobiological markers of typical and atypical language development

Infants take crucial language acquisition steps during their first year of life. These early abilities are the basis for subsequent acquisition steps and can show cascade effects on educational achievements.

My research agenda covers infants’ first steps into language by focusing on the processing of phonological information (i.e., acoustic modulations at the syllable, word, and phrase levels) and its pivotal role for the acquisition of a language’s lexicon and syntax: Phonological parameters, such as rhythm and intonation, mark words and word groups in the speech input; moreover, phonological markers characterize morpho-syntactic relations between subjects, verbs, and objects.

In my talk, I will summarize our findings on infants’ abilities in lexicon and syntax acquisition during typical development and how restrictions of these abilities already in infancy could be precursors of continuing atypical development (e.g., developmental dyslexia).

Poster