Laura-Ann Petitto

Laura-Ann Petitto (born c. 1954) is a cognitive neuroscientist and a developmental cognitive neuroscientist known for her research and scientific discoveries involving the language capacity of chimpanzees, the biological bases of language in humans, especially early language acquisition (be it language on the hands in signed languages or on the tongue in spoken languages), early reading, and bilingualism, bilingual reading, and the bilingual brain. Significant scientific discoveries include the existence of linguistic babbling on the hands of deaf babies (“manual babbling”) She is recognized for her contributions to the creation of the new scientific discipline, called educational neuroscience. Petitto chaired a new undergraduate department at Dartmouth College, called "Educational Neuroscience and Human Development" (2002–2007), and was a Co-Principal Investigator in the National Science Foundation and Dartmouth's Science of Learning Center, called the "Center for Cognitive and Educational Neuroscience" (2004–2007). At Gallaudet University (2011–present), Petitto led a team in the creation of the first PhD in Educational Neuroscience program in the United States. Petitto is the Co-Principal Investigator as well as Science Director of the National Science Foundation and Gallaudet University’s Science of Learning Center, called the "Visual Language and Visual Learning Center (VL2)". Petitto is also founder and Scientific Director of the Brain and Language Laboratory for Neuroimaging (“BL2”) at Gallaudet University.

Biography Education Petitto received her Bachelor of Science degree in 1975 from Ramapo College of New Jersey while taking undergraduate classes and conducting cross-species language research with the chimpanzee "Nim Chimpsky" at Columbia University (New York City, New York).

Scientific contributions Petitto's research and discoveries span several scientific disciplines. Her early work with Nim Chimpsky and her later work with humans, encompasses anthropology, comparative ethology, evolutionary biology, cognitive neuroscience, cognitive science, theoretical linguistics, philosophy, psychology, psycholinguistics, language acquisition, child development, evolutionary psychology, American Sign Language, deaf studies, and bilingualism. Her overall discoveries involve:

(1) cross-species (apes and humans) language and cognitive capacities, (2) the nature of early human language acquisition, structure, and representation in the human brain; especially infants’ (ages 6–12 months) peaked neural sensitivity (involving the brain's STG and associated neural networks) to maximally-contrasting, rhythmic temporal patterning that in turn permits them to discover human language phonological structure in early life, and which is key to phonetic segmentation in word learning, discerning linguistic/syntactic patterning, and phonetic decoding in early reading, and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) neuroimaging to conduct original studies comparing bilingual and monolingual adult brains. Petitto uses Eye-Tracking; and, with a team of collaborating scientists, Petitto led a research team to advance and integrate novel technology involving a Robot, an Avatar, Thermal Infrared Imaging plus fNIRS, with Eye-Tracking, and Kinect to build an artificial agent + human infant language learning tool (called RAVE) capable of socially-contingent and socially interactive communications with an infant when it is most engaged and "ready to learn."

Taken together, Petitto's research discoveries and scientific writings have offered testable hypotheses and theory regarding the neural basis for the brain's specialization for human language, the types of language features a child must minimally be exposed to (and when) in early life (sensitive or critical periods), what happens if early critical periods are missed, and how best to facilitate optimal language learning in all children acquiring all human languages be they signed or spoken. and cross-linguistic studies of different signed languages, especially ASL and Langue des Signes Québécoise, LSQ), (2) Linguistic timing milestones in development (the highly similar maturational timing in the achievement of language milestones across young children acquiring spoken and signed languages), For decades, Babbling was viewed as inextricably tied to sound and speech. However, the discovery of hand Babbling demonstrated that rather than sound being key, Babbling reflects the infant's biologically given sensitivity to highly specific patterns that are part of language structure. The discovery forced a reconceptualization of the nature of human Language by decoupling Speech and Language. The discovery of manual Babbling was featured on both the cover of Science (4) Distinct knowledge representation in development, e.g., domain-specific versus domain-general knowledge in child development: the difference between language versus communicative gesture in all children's development, Petitto and colleagues were also the first to study experimentally the validity of a widely used educational practice with Deaf children in the 1970s, whereupon teachers (typically hearing) used parts of ASL signs and linguistic structure simultaneously while speaking English in the classroom, called "Simultaneous Communication" (or "Simcom"). The Petitto team's experimental study of Simcom with Deaf children demonstrated empirically that it was highly impoverished at representing either ASL or English, and, in turn, it was a non-optimal teaching method. Instead their work supported the use of a natural signed language with Deaf children from early life such as ASL, which would best provide a solid linguistic foundation upon which to learn other languages (such as English). They advanced the idea that Deaf Education would be best to move to a full Bilingual and Bicultural educational model, and that this course was most commensurate with the biological requirements in human brain development to achieve the most healthy language learning. This research had lasting implications for subsequent Deaf Education policy and practice.

Current research Petitto's more recent studies involve the use of a combination of four disciplines: Genetic analyses (polymorphisms in candidate genes), Behavioral measures of higher cognitive processes from psycholinguistics and developmental science, combined with Neuroimaging from cognitive neuroscience and developmental cognitive neuroscience. Petitto and team predominately use brain imaging technology called functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS)

Since 2000, Petitto's cognitive neuroscience/educational neuroscience research program has continued. Petitto and her laboratory team are known for discovering that young bilingual children are not harmed, delayed, or confused by early dual language exposure. These children not only achieve their language milestones (in each language) on the same timetable as monolinguals, they demonstrate the same semantic and conceptual development as monolinguals, with societal implications that early-life (rather than later) bilingual and multilingual language exposure is optimal for language and reading success. Petitto and her team have also identified the mechanisms that make possible the human infant's early capacity to phonetically discriminate (segment and categorize) the constantly varying linguistic stream around them, and they have articulated the developmental conditions required for this capacity to grow most vibrantly in all children. and found evidence for select reading advantages in young bilingual children as compared to matched monolingual peers, termed the "bilingual reading advantage". She has conducted studies of how extensive training (expertise) in one domain of knowledge impacts or "transfers" to other domains of knowledge (and the extent of this transfer). Since 2014, Petitto (PI) and her team conduct behavioral, brain, and Artificial Intelligence (Robot, Avatar, Thermal Infrared Imaging) studies specifically to advance understanding of the human learning capacity across the lifespan, and especially the optimal conditions for language learning in young deaf and hearing children acquiring signed and spoken languages.

Research awards Petitto is the recipient of over twenty international prizes and awards including,

The Sin Wai-Kin Distinguished Visiting Professorship in the Humanities, University of Hong Kong (to facilitate the creation of an Educational Neuroscience Laboratory and studies), 2014–2016. The 14th Dalai Lama: Invited presentation before, and dialogue with the 14th Dalai Lama about the neuroscience of how experience can impact brain structures and functions, October 2010. Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Elected October 2008. Presented at the Fellow Forum, Chicago, 14 February 2009. Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science (APS), December 2008. The Justine and Yves Sergent International Prize in Cognitive Neuroscience, Université de Montréal Honorary Diploma, Faculty of Medicine, Quebec, Canada, 2004. Pope John Paul II: Invited presentation and expert panel member representing the newly created discipline "Educational Neuroscience" (Mind, Brain and Education) at the 400th Anniversary Celebration of Galileo Galilei's Birthday at the Pontifical Scientific Academy with an audience before Pope John Paul II, Vatican City, Italy, November 2003. Guggenheim Award (for her "unusually distinguished achievements in the past and exceptional promise for future accomplishment" in the discipline of Neuroscience), conferred Spring, 1998. Visiting Resident Scholar, Departments of Nuclear Medicine & Cognitive Science, at the Università & Ospedale Istituto San Raffaele, in Milan, Italy, 1998–1999. Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California, 1991–1992. Visiting Resident Scholar, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, and the Medical Research Council (Speech and Language Group), in Cambridge, England, in conjunction with the Medical Research Council (Cognitive Development Unit), in London, England, 1987–1988. American Psychological Association Boyd R. McCandless "Young Scientist Award" (for "outstanding early career contributions to, and achievements in Developmental Psychology"), conferred at the APA Convention, Atlanta, GA, 1988. American Psychological Association "Young Psychologist Award", conferred at the 24th International Congress of Psychology, Sydney, Australia, 1988.