Basic research over the last decade or two has uncovered similarities between speech, especially its sensori-motor aspects, and vocal communication in several non-human species. The most comprehensive studies so far have been conducted in songbirds. Songbirds offer us a model system to study the interactions between developmental or genetic predispositions and tutor-dependent influences, on the learning of vocal communication. Songbird research has elucidated cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying learning and production of vocal patterns, perception of vocal sounds, vocal motor control and vocal neuromotor plasticity. More recently, the entire genome of the songbird zebra finch has been sequenced. These discoveries, along with the identification of several genes implicated in familial human speech and language disorders, have made it possible to look for analogues of speech and language dysfunction in zebra finches, at least at the perceptual and sensori-motor levels. Two approaches in particular have led us closer to the development of animal models of human speech conditions, namely developmental stuttering and a familial verbal dyspraxia associated with a mutation in the gene for the transcription factor FoxP2. Work on other animals that show developmental sensori-motor learning of vocal sounds used for communication have also shown significant progress, leading to the possibility of development of models of speech and language dysfunction in them. Among mammals, the principal ones include dolphins and whales. In non-human primates, while vocal learning per se is not very prominent, investigations on their communicative abilities have thrown some light on the rudiments of language. These considerations make the publication of a book focused on animal models of speech and language disorders, detailing the overall investigative approach of neurobehavioral studies in animals capable of vocal communication and learned vocalizations, a much-needed and worthwhile project. It would serve as a unifying review of research in this new multidisciplinary frontier, spanning the molecular to the behavioral, for clinicians and researchers, as well as a teaching resource for advanced speech pathology and neuroscience students. This book will also be the first of its kind.

In this up-to-date survey and critical assessment of transgenic and knockout models in neuropsychiatry and behavior, a panel of leading researchers comprehensively assesses how and whether the genetic abnormalities produced from these models manifest the neuropsychiatric disorders to which they correspond. The authors focus on transgenic and knockout models of neurocognitive dysfunction and neuropsychiatric dysfunction. The discussion of neurobiological problems covers mental retardation, polyglutamate, and speech disorders, as well as disorders that involve cognitive, social, speech, and language dysfunction. The neuropsychiatric dysfunctions examined include psychosis and schizophrenia, anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder.

The Handbook of Speech Perception is a collection of forward-looking articles that offer a summary of the technical and theoretical accomplishments in this vital area of research on language. Now available in paperback, this uniquely comprehensive companion brings together in one volume the latest research conducted in speech perception Contains original contributions by leading researchers in the field Illustrates technical and theoretical accomplishments and challenges across the field of research and language Adds to a growing understanding of the far-reaching relevance of speech perception in the fields of phonetics, audiology and speech science, cognitive science, experimental psychology, behavioral neuroscience, computer science, and electrical engineering, among others.

Understanding Developmental Disorders of Auditory Processing, Language and Literacy Across Languages Auditory processing disorders, reading and writing disorders, language disorders, and other related disorders - these disorders seem distinct among one another from historical and professional practice perspectives but more and more research suggests that they in fact overlap in many ways including clinical presentations, suspected underlying causes, diagnostic criteria, and re/habilitation strategies. On January 4-7, 2012, the conference Global Conference on Disorders in Auditory Processing, Literacy, Language & Related Sciences (APLL 2012) was held in The Hong Kong Institute of Education. This was the world’s first platform for interdisciplinary discussions and collaborations on ways we can better serve children who suffer from the above closely related disorders through future research. Due to the huge success of APLL2012, to promote continuous discussions of the conference theme, the conference organizing committee decided to invite scholars, scientists, and practitioners to contribute their work to the eleventh volume in the Research on Sociocultural Influences on Motivation and Learning research monograph series. This volume is focused on issues in typical and disordered developments in auditory processing, literacy, and language across different cultural and linguistic contexts in Asia, Europe and North America. The contributors of this volume offer insightful theoretical and practical ideas to shape future directions in research, assessment, intervention, and education. This is an intriguing and inspiring volume for students, researchers, and practitioners in the fields of speech-language pathology, audiology, developmental psychology, educational psychology, neuropsychology, and other related disciplines. By bringing in respective leaders in the fields, we hope that this book will open new windows to promote advancements in related research initiatives, continuing cross disciplinary discussions and collaborations on ways that we can better service individuals suffer from these closely related disorders through future research.

The interest in ‘biomarkers’ seen across a spectrum of biomedical disciplines reflects the rise of molecular biology and genetics. A host of ‘omics’ disciplines in addition to genomics, marked by multidimensional data and complex analyses, and enabled by bioinformatics, have pushed the trajectory of biomarker development even further. They have also made more tractable the complex mappings of genotypes to phenotypes – genome-to-phenome mapping – to which the concept of a biomarker is central. Genomic investigations of the brain are beginning to reveal spectacular associations between genes and neural systems. Neural and cognitive phenomics are considered a necessary complement to genomics of the brain. Other major omics developments such as connectomics, the comprehensive mapping of neurons and neural networks, are heralding brain maps of unprecedented detail. Such developments are defining a new era of brain science. And in this new research environment, neural systems and cognitive operations are pressed for new kinds of definitions – that facilitate brain-behavioral alignment in an omics operating environment. This volume explores the topic of markers framed around the constructs of cognitive and neural systems. ‘Neurophenotype’ is a term adopted to describe a neural or cognitive marker that can be scientifically described within an associative framework – and while the genome-to-phenome framework is the most recognized of these, epigenetics and non-gene-regulated neural dynamics also suggest other frameworks. In either case, the term neurophenotype defines operational constructs of brain-behavioral domains that serve the integration of these domains with neuroscientific and omics models of the brain. The topic is critically important to psychiatry and neuropsychology: Neurophenotypes offer a ‘format’ and a ‘language’ by which psychiatry and neuropsychology can be in step with the brain sciences. They also bring a new challenge to the clinical neurosciences in terms of construct validation and refinement. Topics covered in the volume include: Brain and cognition in the omics era Phenomics, connectomics, and Research Domain Criteria Circuit-based neurophenotypes, and complications posed by non-gene regulated factors The legacy of the endophenotype concept – its utility and limitations Various potential neurophenotypes of relevance to clinical neuroscience, including Response Inhibition, Fear Conditioning and Extinction, Error Processing, Reward Dependence and Reward Deficiency, Face Perception, and Language Phenotypes Dynamic (electrophysiological) and computational neurophenotypes The challenge of a cultural shift for psychiatry and neuropsychology The volume may be especially relevant to researchers and clinical practitioners in psychiatry and neuropsychology and to cognitive neuroscientists interested in the intersection of neuroscience with genomics, phenomics and other omics disciplines.

This book provides the first presentation of the state-of-the-art in the application of modern Neuroscience research in predicting, preventing and alleviating the negative sequelae of neurodevelopmental, acquired, or neurodegenerative brain abnormalities on speech and language. To this end, this edited volume brings together contributions from several leading experts in a markedly broad range of disciplines, comprising Neurology, Neurosurgery, Genetics, Engineering, Neuroimaging and Neurostimulation, Neuropsychology, and Speech and Language Therapy.