Human Psychophysiology Laboratory
for Families

We use auditory event-related potentials in response to real and made-up words as well as eye tracking during listening to simple sentences to characterize speech processing and learning abilities in children and adults with Angelman syndrome. This work has been supported by the Foundation for Angelman Syndrome Therapeutics and the Angelman Syndrome Foundation.

Read our research report: Measuring Receptive Communication in Angelman Syndrome [2021]

Read our research report: Brain Responses Can Serve as Biomarkers of Cognition in Angelman Syndrome [2018]

• We use visual event-related potentials in response to social and nonsocial stimuli to investigate social interest in children, adolescents and adults with autism. In collaboration with the SENSE Lab, these brain responses are used as an outcome measure in a clinical trial of a social skills intervention.

• We use auditory event-related potentials to speech sounds to investigate early sensory and language development in infants at high risk for autism due to family history. This work is done in collaboration with the BAND Lab.

These studies have been supported by the National Institutes of Health.

We use visual event-related potentials in response to simple shapes and complex naturalistic scenes to investigate age-related changes in attention and memory in adults with Down syndrome. In collaboration with the Center for Cognitive Medicine, we are investigating brain-based markers of cognitive decline and risk for Alzheimer’s disease in Down syndrome.

Read our research report: Understanding Aging in Down Syndrome: A First Step [2013]

As a part of the multi-site NeuroNext study FX-Learn, we use auditory event-related potentials and eye tracking measures to help examine the effects of a novel intervention on language learning in children with Fragile X.

We use visual event-related potentials and eye tracking measures to help objectively characterize emergence, developmental course, and the underlying mechanisms of hyperphagia (intense hunger) in Prader-Willi syndrome. This work has been supported by the Foundation for Prader-Willi Research and is carried out in collaboration with Dr. Dykens and her team.

Read our research report: Hyperphagia in Children with Prader-Willi Syndrome: Insights From Eye Gaze and Brain Response Measures [2021]

We use visual and auditory event-related potentials to characterize sensory and higher-order cognitive processes in children with Rett syndrome and related disorders. In collaboration with Drs. Neul and Peters, we participate in the Natural History study of Rett syndrome.

We use visual and auditory event-related potentials to better understand cognitive abilities and social-emotional behavior in adults with Williams syndrome. This work is carried out in collaboration with Dr. Dykens and the ACM Lifting Lives Camp.