Dianne Newbury

Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University

Research in my lab centres around genetic contributions to speech, language and Communication Disorders (SLCDs).

A recent study found that, at school entry in the UK, approximately 10% of children are affected by speech, language or communication impairments (Norbury et al., 2016). As a group these children are less likely to meet educational targets (Norbury et al., 2015) and more likely to display symptoms of social, emotional and behavioural problems when compared to their peers (Norbury et al., 2016). But yet, we do not know why some children have language difficulties or how these difficulties relate to other aspects of neurodevelopment and behaviour. In our lab, we are trying to identify genetic factors that might play a role in these disorders.

We investigate this problem through a mixture of research questions and by studying individuals, families and populations. This research is important because it will help us to understand why some children have language difficulties and what brain processes are important in language learning. It may allow us to identify new kinds of language disorders and will clarify the relationships between language impairment and other developmental disorders.