Searching for language markers of age-related cognitive changes
Can you help?
People who have Down’s syndrome may show changes to their cognitive skills as they get older. Elisa Mattiauda and her colleagues (further information below) are interested in finding out more about how language is affected by these changes. They hope that learning about the relationship between age, cognition and language will help them to develop better support for people who have Down’s syndrome across their adult life.
Elisa is looking for volunteers who have Down’s syndrome (age 15 years plus) and their parents/caregivers to take part in this study.
If you decide to join the study, you will be asked to take part in activities and answer some questions via a video call. People who have Down’s syndrome will be asked to do a series of activities with the researcher over two sittings (30 mins each) and parents/caregivers will be asked to answer some questions about the person for whom they care (45 mins).
There is further information about the study at this website and in the downloads, below:
- Flyer for parents/caregivers
- Easy read flyer
- Easy read information for participants
- Information sheet for parents/caregivers
Contact details
If you have any questions about the study and/or you are interested in taking part, please contact:
Elisa Mattiauda, Research student: elisa.mattiauda.18@ucl.ac.uk
Dr Alexandra Perovic, Principal Investigator: a.perovic@ucl.ac.uk
Tel: 020 3987 2421
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| Elisa Mattiauda is a doctoral student in the Division of Psychology and Language Sciences at University College London (UCL). Her doctoral work investigates the language and cognitive abilities of people who have Down syndrome, focusing on how cognitive changes associated with ageing and dementia might affect communication skills. | Prof Angela Hassiotis is a Professor of Intellectual Disabilities in the Division of Psychiatry at University College London (UCL) and is a supervisor for this project. Prof Hassiotis works as consultant psychiatrist at the Camden Learning Disabilities Service and her research focus is on testing of interventions to improve wellbeing in people with intellectual disabilities. | Dr Alexandra Perovic is an Associate Professor in Linguistics in the Division of Psychology and Language Sciences at University College London (UCL) and is the principal investigator for this project. Her research focuses on language development in Down syndrome, Williams syndrome, autism and Developmental Language Disorder, in English and cross-linguistically. |