Our objectives
Our lab aims to explain how underlying cognitive and physiological processes regulate and contribute to the individual differences observed in critical quality-of-life outcomes following cochlear implantation. We do so by researching the dynamic interplay among the brain, body and environment, focusing on three areas of development:
- Emotional and behavioral regulation
- Conceptual thinking and reasoning
- Embodied visual attention during early language learning
Our team
Notable achievements
- Determined that early language skills are clinically predictive of long-term neurocognitive outcomes in prelingually deaf cochlear implant users.
- Determined that pediatric cochlear implant users are at a greater risk than their hearing peers for developing clinically significant disturbances in social, emotional and behavioral skills.
- Determined that underlying delays and deficits in language and self-regulation account for differences in social, emotional and behavioral skills in cochlear implant users.
Current clinical trials, research studies and support
Project title: Parent-child interactions and word learning in young deaf children with cochlear implants
Funding: R01 | NIH/NIDCD
Objective: This project uses head-mounted eye-tracking technology to investigate real-time quantitative and qualitative properties of parent-child social interactions in children with cochlear implants.
Project title: Psychosocial outcomes in deaf children with cochlear implants
Funding: R21 Early Career Investigator Award | NIH/NIDCD
Objective: Investigate how language and executive functions regulate and contribute to individual differences in psychosocial outcomes in prelingually deaf, early-implanted cochlear implant users.
Project title: Underlying mechanisms of psychosocial adjustment in pediatric cochlear implant users
Funding: Dean’s Discovery Grant
Objective: Investigate children’s physiological responses to stress.