LangCog Seminar - Cheyenne Svaldi

Posterior fossa tumours (PFTs; i.e., situated in the cranial cavity containing the brainstem and the cerebellum) are the most common brain tumours in children. Children with PFTs may present with a broad spectrum of language impairments, which may persist for years after treatment. Yet, detailed investigations of language have scarcely been conducted in this population. In-depth linguistic assessments which aim to characterise the nature of the observed language impairments in children with PFTs are necessary, however, to provide targeted language rehabilitation. 

In this talk, I will discuss current research conducted by the Child Language Disorders Lab (CLADis Lab) at the University of Groningen, which tries to address several of the challenges associated with studying language in children with PFTs. The findings of several studies using narrative and spontaneous language assessment to identify impaired language processing levels will be considered, applied both on a large cohort and individual scale. In this work a detailed language analysis is employed, including both standard language measures (e.g., mean length of utterance) and word properties extracted from the produced nouns and verbs (e.g., concreteness). Several ongoing projects will also be outlined, investigating the neural correlates of the narrative language outcomes. 

I am a postdoctoral researcher in cognitive neuroscience/neurolinguistics, part of the LRNLab of Dr Jo Taylor. In my research, I focus on language and reading development in typically developing and language-impaired children and their neural correlates. I am originally trained as a speech-language therapist and therefore find great value in the clinical/practical applications of the outcomes of my research.

Currently, I am investigating reading efficiency in primary school children using behavioural and neuroimaging (fMRI, DWI) methods. I also focus on the language ability and learning in children with posterior fossa tumours and children with developmental language disorder in relation to white matter development.