Program for Cognitive

Sciences (PICS)
Dr. Joy Hirsch, Director

Harry D. Schneider, MD.

Co-Investigator

Debra Schneider
Clinical Coordinator

Autism Research
Program
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
 TODAY’S CHAT…
 The discovery of language-specific
areas and their connections in the
brains of children with low-functioning
autism.

 FMRI-based emerging theories leading

to practical applications and treatments
for restoring language.
 Our mathematicians calculated that…
Sharing knowledge is a good thing!
• Most of what I know is from parents who
keep me up to date about new biomedical
interventions and behavioral treatments.

• In return, I try to teach them something

about functional MRI and linguistics.
 Combining Existing Science with
Innovative Research
• We can restore language to stroke victims,
because they have neurotypical anatomy.
• To restore language to ASD children without
neurotypical anatomy, we used fMRI to discover
how their brains functioned for language.
• We developed a map of the autistic brain and
existing treatment technology for language.

• We had the beginnings of a treatment plan!

I. Principles of Functional Specificity in the Brain

• The Real Estate Principle: a 

fundamental notion of brain 

organization.

• It suggests the brain’s real 

estate is divided into subunits 

based on function.
 To understand MRI we need to
review the atom.
MRI is based on the spinning of protons:
B. Spinning protons are little
magnets: they make electricity.

• Scanner Environment [1.5] T
[3.0] T
• Protons align along an axis
Protons in Brain Protons in Brain
Outside Field Inside Field

(scattered) (aligned)
 MAGNETISM MAKES 
ELECTRICITY!
• A radio frequency pulse (63.3 mHz on an 
“FM radio”) is applied to aligned protons
   
RFi

• Protons precess  around the axis and create 
a small electrical current (MRI signal)
    (precess)
(wobble)
 FINDING THE REAL ESTATE
This electrical current is emitted by the protons 
m
r

as they relax into their aligned state.
o
f
i
   
RFo
n
u
d
l

These currents have different strengths depending 
e
i
upon local magnetic field strengths: we use them to 
f
d
find their location of origin in the brain
l
e
i

Location of 
e
i

signals are 
d
a

recorded for 
r
g

structural MRI
 For functional MRI: Blood Oxygen Level 
Dependent Signal (BOLD SIGNAL)

Physiology Physics

Neural activation is  Deoxy­HGB is 
associated with an increase  paramagnetic and distorts 
in blood flow and oxygen  the local magnetic field, 
use. causing signal loss  
(Roy & Sherrington, 1890) (Pauling,1936)

Result: Result:
Reduction in the proportion  Less distortion of the 
of deoxy­HGB in the local  magnetic field in local MR 
vasculature. signal increase
Computations to get a Functional
MRI Map

Reconstruction
Alignment
Voxel by voxel analysis
Graphical representation

Functional 
Brain Map
 Functional MRI
• Is safe!
• No x-rays are used.
• No contrast agents are injected.
• It has been used on infants and pregnant
women without complications.
• But…it is noisy, so it is not always patient
friendly, especially to kids on the
spectrum.
A one-minute review of Brains and
Blobs.
• Gross anatomy.

• Brain activations (called “blobs”).

• Brain connectivity.
Normal Language Areas of the
Cortex
With fMRI we use Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)

Passive listening: DTI: Neural Connections

Broca Arcuate Fasciculus

Wernicke

Axial view of functional activity Sagittal view of DTI Connections between 
Broca’s and Wernicke’s Areas

                    DTI map of a typical language system.
 Applications of the Real Estate Principle
Neurosurgical planning: fMRI Task Battery
Sensory Motor Language Vision
Touch Finger Thumb Picture Listening Reversing
Tapping Naming to Words Checkerboard

(passive) (active) (active) (passive) (passive)

GPoC GPrC GOi GTT GFi GTs CaS

From Hirsch, J., et al; Neurosurgery 47: 711-722, 2000 Hirsch, J., Columbia University.
CLINICAL APPLICATIONS OF fMRI
The science of the mind leads to the
treatment of the mind.
 Mapping for neurosurgical planning
 Assessment of cognitive function in   
      non­responsive adults and babies
 Neural reorganization in dyslexia.
 Low­functioning language Autism!
 Diagnoses Based On Variations in Neurocircuitry
fMRI TO DIAGNOSE AND INFORM TREATMENT OF
ALTERNATIVE AND ATYPICAL NEUROCIRCUITRY OF BRAIN
Dyslexia Non­impaired

Shaywitz, et 
al. 1998

Howard & 
Hirsch, 2004

Dyslexia occurs in 15% of the U.S. population

Program for Imaging and Cognitive Sciences J. Hirsch, Columbia
 Anxiety Decision
Disorders, Neural Surgical
Eating Sciences
PTSD Planning
Disorders, AN,
Obesity
Autism
Seizure
Neural Deception NeuroLaw Disorders of
Localization
Reorganization Consciousness
Pain Language
NeuroGenetics
Acquisition

I. FUTURE DIRECTIONS FOR BRAIN

MAPPING IN CLINICAL
NEUROSCIENCE
Now on to even more boring stuff!

LINGUISTICS

 HOW DID YOU LEARN YOUR
(FIRST) LANGUAGE?
• No one really taught it to you!
• There were no verbs to conjugate.
• There were no behavioral interventions.

• You just looked, listened and one day you

began speaking!
How can children do what every second language
learner dreams about - learn grammar without
even thinking about it?
• Children all know more about the language than
they could reasonably have learned if they had
to depend entirely on the input they were
exposed to.
• This is the “ poverty of stimulus theory” – the
fact that grammar is unlearnable given the
linguistic data available to children. Conclusion:
grammar cannot be learnt but is rather an innate
knowledge of the possibilities and impossibilities
for any human language.
What about language development
in a neurotypical child?
• Because languages are infinite and a childhood is only
finite, children can not just memorize language, they
must leap into the linguistic unknown and generalize to
an infinite world of as-yet unspoken sentences. (Pinker,
1994)

• This is done by acquiring grammar. The child is a

‘naturalist’, passively observing the speech of other‘s.
The child picks up grammar “implicitly” (unconsciously).

• Chomsky: “Language is innate” (we are born “hard-

wired” to learn a language.
 Neurotypical grammar (cont’d):

• Although some children might say

“Mommy gived the book”
• A child never says:
“Mommy the gives book” or
“Mommy gives book the”
• The unconscious grammar machine
does not allow for too much error!
 How do we become fluent?
• To achieve fluency in our native or a
foreign language, two things should be
combined: the words and their use.

in other words,

Grammar and pragmatics of language.

 The Grammar is Universal
• The evidence includes:
 the spontaneous production of language
 that children can learn to speak on a
basis of minimal linguistic experience
 the fact that language choices need to
be constrained in order to make learning
quick and efficient
 the ability to change from one structure
to another easily
 What is changing from one structure?
Structure Dependency

• All languages are “structure dependant”. This

relationship between different elements of a
sentence is learnt by children through Universal
Grammar.
• If every structure had a rule, our language
systems would be too complicated and could not
be adopted by adults, let alone infants.
• Rearranging structures of a sentence is not just
a matter of recognizing phrases and then
moving them around: It is moving the correct
element within the right phrase
 An example of “moving things
around correctly !
A child’s learns how to move things around
to ask a question.
 The boy who is sitting on the rug is hungry.
Q. Is the boy who is sitting on the rug hungry?
 Is the boy sitting on the rug that is being
vacuumed by his mother?
Q. The boy is sitting on the rug that is being
vacuumed by his mother.
 What about Pragmatics ?
• Pragmatics is concerned with how communication is
achieved in a given instance of language use.
• It is the study of how the meaning of a sentence (or other
linguistic unit) changes depending on how and where it is
expressed.
• It is concerned with transmission of meaning based on
the context of an utterance, knowledge about the status
of those speaking, the inferred intent of the speaker and
the way in which we reach our goals in communication.
• E.g. : “We could say: no eating in this lecture room”.
• or “Somebody’s pizza is making me hungry and I
can’t concentrate”.
 What do we need to know about
grammar?
• Grammar is not learned, it is implicitly
acquired!
• Acquired means learning something:

• unconsciously
• almost inadvertently
• becoming automatic in its use.
• not quite knowing how we do it!
 OUR BRAINS HAVE TWO (2)
Memory systems
• 1) The Explicit System – also called the
“declarative” system and the conscious
memory systems.

Conscious vs. Unconscious!

• 2) The Implicit System – also called the

“procedural” and unconscious systems”
 OUR BRAINS HAVE TWO (2)
memory systems
• 1) The Explicit System – also called the
“declarative” system and the conscious
memory systems.

• REMEMBER THE 2 MEMORY

SYSTEMS!

• 2) The Implicit System – also called the

“procedural” and unconscious systems”
 Implicit and Explicit Memory: an
important distinction!
• Implicit memory: our previous experiences aid
in the performance of tasks without conscious
awareness of these previous experiences
(Schacter, 1987). “déjà vu”: “If you give me the
first letter, I will remember the word.”

 In daily life, people rely on implicit memory

(procedural memory) that allows us to
remember how to tie our shoes or ride a bicycle
without consciously thinking about these
activities.
On the other hand, Explicit Memory
• Explicit memory is the conscious, intentional
recollection of previous experiences and
information.

• In daily life, people rely on explicit memory

(declarative memory), that stores facts:
memories that can be consciously discussed,
textbook learning, knowledge, memories of
personal events, and learning new vocabulary.
A good example: How do we drive
a car?
• Implicitly ? (automatic and unconscious)

• Explicitly? (thinking about what we learned

in driving school)?

• Or both ways? e.g. “Did you ever drive

home…”
Implicit Learning: New Frontiers
 Implicit learning is what happens when people are just going about
their daily life activitie not on memorizing or on learning per se,”

 It is involved in learning new motor skills such as bike riding, and

learning new languages, picking up new cognitive skills such as
chess playing, and in developing intuitions about how other people
will act.

 A child’s learning its first languge from birth to age 3 is IMPLICIT

 This style of learning is subtle, occurring without intention or

conscious awareness that the learning is taking place. It is also not
easy to explain. Often people can’t fully articulate what they’ve
learned, even though they may have absorbed and retained
significant amounts of information.

 We think it is much more important for adapting to new places and

people than more conscious forms of learning
 The 2 memory systems use 2
different brain areas!
 Our mental grammar (SVO), relies on implicit,
unconscious and procedural memory uses a
primitive network of areas deep in the brain

 Learning words relies on conscious, explicit

declarative memory, which also stores facts
and events you can recall and depends on a
different brain network: surface brain areas and
the hippocampus
The Procedural Brain (“Reptile”
Brain)- for the infant’s language!
 What are the parts of the
Procedural Memory Machine:
• Basal Ganglia (Parkinson's disease).
• Cerebellum (balance, movement)
• Substantia Nigra (dopamine)
• Thalamus (a translator for brain)
• SMA : motor planning areas.
• Parts of Wernicke’s and Broca’s area
Language Areas of the Cortex:
explicit learning
 How do children “learn to speak”?
• The do not “learn” it, they “acquire” it.

• ALL CHILDREN FROM BIRTH TO

ABOUT AGE TWO (2) USE THE
IMPLICIT SYSTEM FOR LANGUAGE.

• IT IS AN UNCONSCIOUS PROCESS
THAT DOES NOT INVOLVE TEACHING!
 For the Purposes of this talk,
Let’s keep it simple:

• Implicit = Unconscious = Procedural

MEMORY

• Explicit = Conscious = Declarative

Do the two systems work together?
• NO ! But, teaching explicitly face to face
can “help” implicit learning indirectly:
 It can help the brain focus on relevant
items, such as sounds, or parts of words.
 It can make these relevant language
features stand out more, such as
concentrating on the ends of words or
what happens between words.
 Is Grammar just another skill, like
driving a car?
• YES!
• It is no coincidence that the
beginnings of grammar follow
closely on the heels of a baby –
the ability to walk and talk both
appear around fifteen months!
(Pinker, 1994)
 THINK OF AMNESIA
• A person with amnesia (retrograde) can
not remember what happened in the past
– but they can remember how to drive a
car! They do NOT forget implicit stuff!

• People with anterograde amnesia can not

remember what was just learned: “each
day is a new day” – but they can be taught
to drive! They can be taught implicit stuff!
A NEUROTYPICAL CHILD’S
LANGUAGE
 What about an ‘autistic’ child’s
language acquisition?
Language Production
• No words by 12 to 14 months.
• Less than one dozen words by age 18 months.
• No two-word phrases by age two years or sentences by
age three years
• Inability to use initiate and maintain language
conversationally using colloquial conversation.
• Inability to recount an event or tell a coherent story.

Language Comprehension:
• How much do they really understand?
• Have they acquired the procedural grammar “blueprint”.?
• If they can understand: “ the boy hugs the girl”,
can they also understand “the girl is hugged by the boy’?
 Do “LFA” children use implicit or
explicit processes ?

• Low-functioning children with autism (generally)

have to MEMORIZE almost of the language they
can produce ! This is explicit or declarative
memory and it takes up a lot of space on the
brain’s “hard drive”.

• This is a huge mental process, using up a lot of

brain energy and by itself may not lead to full
language recovery.
 SYNTAX DEPENDS ON
PROCEDURAL MEMORY
• Faulty procedural learning is due to those deep
brain areas that were partially damaged both in
utero and after birth

• This is the cause of ASD kids having no

grammar and having to memorize everything!

• Without the grammar machine a child can not

become fluent nor verbally communicate!
 Faulty procedural memory
A child with ASD will have difficulty with:
• prepositions, adjectives, adverbs
• pronouns: I, you, he, she, my, your, etc.),
• things (this, that, these, those),
• places (here, there, above, below, etc.),
• times (now, tomorrow, yesterday);
• Recognizing ungrammatical sentences
• Word meaning (frequently used words)
 Faulty Procedural Memory II
• Faulty procedural acquisition may complicate the
simultaneous application of elements of verbal
communication.
Difficulty in inferring appropriate words:
 prepositions, adjectives, adverbs.
 deictic terms for person (I, you, he, she, my, your, etc.),
 things (this ,that, these, those),
 places (here, there, above, below, etc.),
 times (now, tomorrow, yesterday)

• Verbal intonation of children with ASD is better in

repetition tasks (declarative memory) than in
spontaneous speech (procedural memory)
 The Infant Needs Procedural
memory
• Learning of categories requires procedural
memory: difficult in ASD children
• If some categories are learned, many ASD kids
might not be able to understand them within the
meaning of WHOLE sentences, in which the
procedural system tries to reconstruct in its brain
the actions described by another speaker.
• The absence of imaginative activity might also
occur, because of the problems surrounding the
learning of concepts and categories, which also
requires procedural memory.
 What does the LFA brain have to
do with this?
• There is often limited, implicit “innate” grammar usable in
autism, because deep brain structures have been
partially damaged. The language-learning template was
most likely NOT blueprinted in many kids!

• The ability to speak requires being able to retrieve

the grammar template from other brain areas – in
ASD the connections to these areas are not intact.

• Our goal is to stimulate these brain areas to acquire

the template – i.e., to give them back a basic
language blueprint – and then to help them restore
neural connections to retrieve it!
Autism is a “Spectrum Disorder”
• Low-functioning ASD brains are different
from high-functioning ASD brains.

• There is more pathology in the grey

matter, the white matter fibers, specific
brain areas (e.g. the cerebellum) and the
connections between these areas.
 DORSAL AND VENTRAL
STREAMS FOR LANGUAGE: both
begin at Wernicke’s area.
 THE DORSAL STREAM
• Begins in STG and goes from the inferior
parietal cortex to the posterior frontal lobe
via motor and supplementary motor areas.
• Functions:
 maps phonemic representations onto
motor representations for articulations.
 repetition of speech intact.
 DORSAL SYSTEM (cont’d)
• Processing of complex grammatical
structures (e.g., computing
hierarchical dependency relations)

• Involves Broca’s area (BA 44,45)

 VENTRAL SYSTEM
• Middle and inferior temporal gyrus to the
ventrolateral prefrontal cortex.
• Serves as a “sound-to-meaning” interface:
maps sound-based speech to distributed
cortical representations.
• Associated with sentence
comprehension.
 VENTRAL SYSTEM (cont’d)
• The VS has an iterative exchange with the
pre-frontal cortex: executive aspects of
semantic processing.
• VS involved in semantically-based
analysis of grammatical structures
• Processes simple grammatical structures
(the STG -> frontal operculum)
• THE VS IS SEEN TO BE USED IN LFA
KIDS!
 Linguistics of Ventral and Dorsal
Streams
• When sound images of words are lost, children
would not be able to understand words because
sounds would mean nothing to them without the
sound images of words. (like listening to a
foreign language).
• When motor images of words are impaired, then
the LFA child would not be able to REPEAT
words – but comprehension and expression are
OK.
 Integration of the two streams
• The dorsal stream is involved in auditory-motor
integration by mapping acoustic speech sounds
to articulatory representations. The prototype
task targeting this dorsal stream is repetition of
speech.
• The ventral stream serves as a sound-to-
meaning interface by mapping sound-based
representations of speech to widely distributed
conceptual representations. The prototype task
targeting this ventral stream is listening to
meaningful speech.
 DORSAL AND VENTRAL
STREAMS REPRESENTNG THE
LINGUISTICS.
NEUROTYPICAL CHILD 7
     Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI): LF autism

Arcuate Fasciculus
Broca

Wernicke

                    DTI map: Wernicke’s Area does NOT reach  

                                  Broca’s Area. 
AUTISTIC 6 YEAR OLD
AUTISTIC 7 YEAR OLD
 TITLE
Language “Real Estate”
Normal Autistic 6 yr. old Autistic 7 yr. old

Language Connectivity
Alternative Neurocircuitry in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism occurs in as many as 1 child in 150 in the U.S.

 What do the activations show?
• We do not always find typical language
areas, such as Broca’s and Wernicke’s
areas, becoming activated to passive
language listening – when they should!
• Broca’s area sometimes responds to
music without responding to language!
• The “language activations” are often
pushed towards the posterior parts of the
brain (sensory integration areas).
 What else do we see in the
connections?
• The connections from Wernicke’s area, when
present, do not make it to Broca’s area, which
they should, via the Arcuate Fasciculus.
• Sometimes these connections are incomplete,
sometimes they are very meager in appearance,
and sometimes they go the wrong way: to the
back of the brain instead of the front.
• Sometimes they take a “southern route” towards
the front of the brain, instead of a northern one –
which they should take.
 Some initial thoughts.
• DTI connectivity confirms the notion that not only
abnormal areas for language are activated, but
the neural circuitry that is established deviates
from those seen in a neurotypical brain.
• There are other known language pathways that
we have yet to confirm with DTI. These are the
ones that go to the deep structures in the cortex.
• We have reason to believe, based on
neuropsychological evaluations, that there may
be some connectivity to these areas.
 BACK TO THE FIRST SLIDE
 What about practical
applications and treatments?

 What are some “Emerging

Theories” in treating autism?
• (hint: the brain is “plastic”)
 Novel Treatments for Autism
1. Novel language rehabilitations.
2. Application of musicology to
linguistics.
3. Virtual movement: cerebellar
stimulation.
4. Neuromodulation.
 What’s available: excellent evidence-
based communication interventions.
• ABA - from BF Skinner to (Lovaas et
al, 1966): strengthening effects of
reinforcement during teaching
• Stimulus-stimulus pairing: e.g.
phoneme + reward.
• Milieu-based interventions: time
delay, milieu teaching, natural
language paradigms.
 What do we have that’s novel?
1) A “Language-Template”
Rehabilitation Program.
• Language is innate! (Chomsky, 1965): we
are born with a “blueprint” for grammar”.
• Our brains depend on primitive brain
systems (e.g. the basal ganglia) to acquire
this grammar “blueprint.
• Emerging Theory: implicit (procedural)
grammar training can create a (new)
language template: the brain areas for
implicit grammar-learning are ‘plastic’!
 “Back to the Future”
• We need to re-activate the innate “brain
module” in children with autism.

• Some of this IMPLCIT training involves

“unconsciously, inadvertently, ‘learning’ to
speak a language for the first time all over
again” !
 An emerging theory (cont’d)
We can modulate the successful acquisition of this
grammar template: “dopamine”.
(substantia nigra, Parkinson’s D, basal ganglia)

4. with the use of “language-specific motivations”.

(integrative motivation)

6. with novel implicit training techniques geared

to stimulate the basal ganglia via dopaminergic
brain pathways (it includes imitation and joint
attention - but it’s more than that)
DOPAMINE PATHWAYS
 DOPAMINERGIC PATHWAYS
TOP: BASAL GANGLIA
BOTTOM: DOPAMINE, EMOTIONS

Caudate Putamen

Substantia Nigra Amygdala

 PROXIMITY OF BASAL GANGLIA
AND SUBSTANTIA NIGRA
.
 2) What about the application of
“musicology” to language
 Music therapy is useful with autistic children: non
threatening, socially interactive, uses musical
games with eye contact (it has the “right stuff”).
 Emerging Theory: the evolution of language,
gestures (hand movements) and music use
cerebral networks that are functionally linked.
 Our neuroimaging findings indicate a strong
“overlap of neural resources” involved in the
processing of language and music.
 MUSIC IN OUR HEADS!
. Research has found that songs get stuck in our heads because
they create a "brain itch" that can only be scratched by
repeating the tune over and over .
 Application of musicology to
language (cont’d)
Investigations: We are still discovering which aspects of
music are best suited to facilitate unconscious
acquisition of the rules of grammar.

• Rhythm: “It’s hard to stay still”: an evolutionary

primitive response. - can produce unaware body
movement resulting from processing the beat by motor
areas of the brain – the same areas that process
language acquisition functions.
• Syntax: Broca’s Area has been shown to be involved
in the detection of music structural irregularities (and
tones) as well detecting as grammar structure
irregularities. (“off key” is the same thing as “bad
grammar”).
• Mozart: many of the children whose Broca’s area did not
respond to language responded to Mozart.
 3. Language acquisition and Body
Movement: The cerebellum:
• The cerebellum plays an important role in
the integration of sensory perception and
motor control, providing proprioceptive
(internal) feedback on the position of the
body in space.
• The cerebellum works with many neural
pathways receiving constant feedback on
body position to fine-tune motor our body
movements.
 Cerebellar connections
• The cerebellum connects to frontal brain areas
to help generate “inner speech” (speech motor
planning”
• It also connects to primitive language areas
used to acquire our first language.
• Common real estate: “Sung” (explicit) language
and spoken language share many common
features and overlap in the posterior
cerebellum, a region known to represent the lips
and tongue.
Gross (Grey’s) Anatomy 101
 The cerebellum in Autism
• Cerebellar dysfunction (pathology) is high
in ASD: but, we have seen activations!
• The cerebellar areas that are damaged
are often areas that receive auditory and
visual input: some implicit language areas
may be partially spared.
• Initiation of speech may be altered or
halted by cerebellar injury in autism.
 Cerebellar “therapy” and implicit
language acquisition
• Emerging Theory: stimulating the cerebellum by virtual
or real movement (e.g. spinning) may stimulate growth
of new neural connections from the cerebellum to
implicit language areas (Broca’s area, basal ganglia:
the “reptile brain”)

• Practical Application: Combining real or virtual

movement technology –the “Top Gun” effect or simply
bouncing on a ball - with implicit language-learning
techniques is being developed to modulate language
acquisition in children with autism.
 4) NEUROMODULATION

• Transcranial Magnetic
Stimulation.

• Transcranial Direct Current

Stimulation.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
 How do we think TMS works?
• To perform TMS experiments, a stimulator (i.e.,
pulse generator) is needed to which different
stimulation coils can be connected to apply brief
magnetic pulses. These induce flows of
electrical current within brain cells.

• It has been hypothesized that these currents

enhance cortical synapses and modulate
important neurotransmitters.
 Can TMS be used in ASD?

SO FAR THE DATA HAVE

NOT BEEN VERY GOOD
WITH TMS,

BUT, WE HAVE SUCCESS

WITH TDCS !!
 tDCS is SAFE !
 tDCS supplies a weak constant direct current to
the scalp to depolarize neurons below.
 tDCS gives between 0.5 and 4 mA of direct
current delivered through two sponge electrodes
soaked in saline solution.
 The saline-soaked sponges keep current
densities low and safe.
 Anodal (+) tDCS enhances excitability, whereas
cathodal (-) tDCS reduces it.
Transcranial Direct Current
Stimulation (tDCS)
 How best to use tDCS?
• Stimulate speech areas of robust activation seen on
individual child’s functional MRI (e.g. Wernicke’s Area)
that are not connected to other speech areas.
• Stimulate areas of no activation, but known to be
important to speech: areas of speech motor planning an
execution:
- Wernicke’s Area: drive it to Broca’s area
- Broca’s; supplementary motor area
- basal ganglia and cerebellum
- frontolimbic system (motivation)
• Use tDCS with implicit language learning
techniques !
This is tDCS & implicit learning !
What do some “smart people” at
Columbia think?
 We can use functional MRI to inquire about
abnormalities in brain activations and
connectivity.

 We can use these to guide very early

interventions to improve the language outcome
of children with autism.

 But…..
We need your help to figure this all
out !!!