Paying Attention to Language: Lisa Sanders Uses a Research Grant to Study What Can Go Wrong When Children Learn Language.
Lisa Sanders’ introduction to neuroscience came when she was taking an undergraduate psychology course at Rice University. The professor brought in a human brain, and Sanders was hooked. Now she is director of the Neurocognition and Perception Laboratory at UMass Amherst.
In spring 2008, the John Merck Fund awarded Sanders a $300,000 grant to research a possible correlation between attention deficit disorders and language acquisition problems. Sanders was one of two researchers in the United States to receive the John Merck Scholars Program grant “to encourage exceptional young individuals to focus on the problems of children who are mentally challenged and emotionally disturbed.”
According to Sanders, there has been relatively little investigation into whether there is a causal relationship between attention problems and language acquisition problems—and what precisely the relationship is. “When a child is learning language, any number of things can go wrong,” she says. A child might not hear well or be able to process what he or she hears effectively.
This fall, Sanders’ lab started testing about 60 young children, and without the Merck grant to cover the study’s expenses, Sanders believes she probably would have had to wait 10 years to pursue this research. Among her team members are a half dozen undergrads. Sanders knows firsthand how valuable the experience can be for undergrads: “There’s always something going on in the lab, and they learn how to help each other out and be part of a team.”
From the four-year study Sanders wants to find ways to help children learn language by improving their attentiveness. “The goal is to make the resources we develop as freely available as possible,” she says, “to parents, teachers, counselors, and community programs."
