Uddin Lab
Principal Investigator: Lucina Qazi Uddin
Institution: University of California, Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA)
Primary Subfield: Neuroscience
Recruitment Status: Inquire for rotation/fellowship opportunities
Research Focus
Project Summary Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with marked heterogeneity with respect to the development of executive function (EF) abilities. In the United States, 12 million children primarily speak a language other than English in the home, suggesting that 1 in 4 children with ASD are being raised in a bilingual environment. Individuals who speak two languages fluently sometimes perform better on tasks of EF than monolingual individuals. Despite the potential advantages that bilingualism may confer, clinical practitioners commonly advise against providing a bilingual environment for children with developmental disabilities. The rationale for this recommendation is that concentrating on one language should better support a child’s language development. Yet, a growing body of work suggests there are no negative effects of being raised in a bilingual environment for children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Preliminary evidence even suggests possible associations between bilingualism and enhanced EF in some children with ASD. Still, there is little research specific to bilingualism in children with ASD, leaving clinicians struggling to develop informed recommendatio…
Active NIH Awards
- 5R01HD116691-02: Longitudinal investigation of bilingualism, executive function, and brain organization in autism (2026)
- 1R01HD116691-01A1: Longitudinal investigation of bilingualism, executive function, and brain organization in autism (2025)
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