Sofia Hryniv

(she/her)

Research

Research Interests

Langauge delays are common across a range of neurodevelopmental disorders, but the extent and type of the langauge delay can vary greatly. In Down syndrome in particular, we see lots of variability in the children's expressive langauge abilities. In order to understand why the langauge domain can develop so differently, it is important to capture the naturalistic speech environment that young chidlren experience on a daily basis - to do this, we have to make use of new technology. 

Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA) software estimates how much speech children hear and produce in up to 16 hour segments. It has been validated for children up to 48 months old wth typical speech patterns, but more work is needed to understand how well LENA estimates the speech environments of children with atypical speech patterns, such as those with neurodevelopmental disorders. It is also vital to understand how children interact with their environments across a range of domains simultaneously, not just considering each domain in isolation as this does not accurately reflect the way in which we interact with our environment. Integrating speech data with sight and touch data from children's day-to-day life is, therefore, key to understanding the inputs that children receive frequently, and how they may relate to langauge outcomes.

Understanding how sensorimotor interactions with the environment can contribute to development for children with neurodevelopmental dirsorders such as Down syndrome allows us to build tailored and effective interventions that can be delivered at home, by parents and carers who spend the most amount of time with their children. It also deepens our understanding of how langauge abilities develop in the way they do, and how we can support this development for all young children by identifying core inputs and experiences that are universally required for langauge development.

TinyExplorer study

Calling all little scientists under 5! We are currently recruiting participants to take part in our remote study to understand what children see at home. At the moment, we are recruiting particiapnts with Down syndrome, as well as typically developing participants. The study is fully remote, and we send you everything you need to take part. If you and your little scientist are interested in hearing more about what this study involves and signing up, please visit our social media pages to find out more.

Thesis project (School funded research)

"Dynamic sensorimotor patterns during parent-child interaction: A cross-syndrome study"

My project will seek to combine a range of technology to gather sensorimotor data to represent the rich input that children receive on a daily basis, building a deeper understanding of children's interactions with their environment, and how this can shape their cognitive development. In particular, I will explore how the things that children see and touch might help them learn labels in the home envirnoment, and how this might differ across neurodevelopmental syndromes.

Biography

Education

2020-2021: MPhil in Biological Sciences (Psychology), University of Cambridge

2017-2020: BA in Natural Sciences (Psychology), University of Cambridge

Summer Studentships

2019: ICICLE group, University of Newcastle

• using video data to explore motoric symptoms of Parkinson's disease

2018: Murray Lab, University of Newcastle

• experience in genetic and cellular research