# Neural and environmental mechanisms of language development during the first three years of life

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · 2022 · $97,946

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT
The objective of this proposal is to understand the neural and environmental mechanisms of socioeconomic
(SES) differences in 36-month-old children’s language development. In older school-aged children, the quantity
and quality of parental language input statistically mediates effects of SES on brain development, which in turn
impacts children’s language outcomes. Although these findings are well-characterized in older children, they
have yet to be examined in children under age three, the time when brain maturation is most rapid. The
primary objective of this proposal is to examine the relation between SES, parental language input, and brain
and behavioral indices of child language during the first three years of life. Efforts to examine environmental
and neural mechanisms of language in young children have been hindered by small samples and
methodological challenges. For instance, it is not clear whether approaches to automatically estimate parental
language input produce reliable estimates in non-White and socioeconomically diverse populations. This
proposed study will overcome previous challenges by employing secondary data analysis on an existing
longitudinal dataset of socioeconomically and racially diverse mothers and children (N=253). Our first aim is
methodological and will examine reliability between automatically generated and manually coded measures of
parental language input. Aims 2-3 involve additional transcription and manual coding of parents’ language
input to test the longitudinal association between SES, language input, structural and functional brain
measures, and language outcomes. We hypothesize that SES effects on child language at 36 months will be
mediated by parental language input and the structure/connectivity of brain regions at 30 months. The
proposed work is important because SES-based differences in child language ability have long-term
implications for decreased educational attainment, lower occupational status, poorer physical and mental
health, and increased risk for all-causes of mortality. By identifying the proximal experiences that mediate
effects of SES on child language outcomes at age three, we may identify actionable targets for preventative
and early intervention efforts to improve child and family wellbeing.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10527907
- **Project number:** 1R21HD107358-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
- **Principal Investigator:** Kathryn A Leech
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $97,946
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-10 → 2024-09-09

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10527907

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10527907, Neural and environmental mechanisms of language development during the first three years of life (1R21HD107358-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10527907. Licensed CC0.

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