ALI-multi

ALI-Multi is a multi-beneficiary ‘doctoral network’ project that examines acquired neurogenic communication disorders in multilingual individuals. This includes aphasia, which results from brain damage and impacts language reception and production, as well as other neurodegenerative conditions including dementia. More than 300,000 individuals suffer from acquired communications disorders in Europe every year. There are more multilingual individuals than monolinguals across the world; however, our fundamental understanding of acquired neurogenic language impairments is based on studies conducted with ‘monolingual’ people. The main objective of ALI-multi is to train researchers and clinicians (through a doctoral degree) so that they can disentangle in an efficient way the challenges of acquired language impairments in a multilingual world by generating tools, scientific knowledge, and improving clinical practices. ALI-multi stands upon three important strands: (i) transforming “monolingual” theories (fundamental research) to inform and update theory through psycho/neurolinguistic investigations of language and cognitive impairments in multilingual individuals; (ii) addressing the lack of multilingual resources to enhance clinical applications, and (iii) developing digital solutions and usage-based approaches to aphasia , with the aim of leveraging digital advancements to support effective solutions for people with acquired communication disorders and clinical professionals. The ALI-multi doctoral network is composed of 29 confirmed members involving eight main beneficiaries: CNRS BCL UMR7320 (France, Coordinator), University of Lille & CNRS STL UMR8163 (France), University of A Coruña (Spain), National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Norway), Cyprus University of Technology (Cyprus), University of Georgia (US, non-EU partner), and National University of Singapore (Singapore, non-EU partner). ALI-multi innovates by employing and making available cutting-edge methods for future researchers (e.g., eye-tracking, electrophysiology, neuroimaging, open-source language tools, trained models as online services) to improve current theoretical understanding of language impairments in aphasia and other neurogenic language disorders. Furthermore, this initiative aims to create a synergy between digital humanities and acquired language disorders research by proposing innovative tools and methodologies that facilitate the understanding and treatment of language disorders in both research and clinical settings. Most importantly, at the end of this action a ‘big and rich aphasia database’ available for reuse will be established, serving as a comprehensive repository of linguistic, cognitive and neuroimaging data that will not only provide valuable insights into the mechanisms underlying language impairments but also act as a critical resource for future research endeavors in the field.