"Brain Basis of Developmental Language Disorder"
Dr. Gabriel Cler (University of Washington)
Friday, October 20
9:00–10:30 a.m. EDT
Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library
Developmental language disorder (DLD) is a heritable neurodevelopmental disorder, diagnosed when children have difficulty acquiring their first language for no apparent reason. Despite its prevalence (7% of the population; nearly 7x as common as autism spectrum disorder; more common than ADHD) and impact, DLD is less well known and receives less research attention compared to other neurodevelopmental disorders. Accordingly, models of the neural causes, consequences, and correlates of DLD are as yet simplistic. In this talk, that happens to fall on DLD awareness day, Gabriel Cler briefly discuss how DLD manifests behaviorally and its impacts throughout the lifespan as well as why it might be so unknown. Then he will present the current understanding of DLD and the brain, updated by our recent studies in adolescents and adults. Finally, he will discuss some possible future directions for this work toward a better understanding of the neural basis of DLD.