How do different modalities and domains of statistical learning skills grow and change across development in different populations, and what brain systems and connectivities underpin this? In this collection of projects, we use online statistical learning in the MRI to tease apart the developmental time-course of statistical learning in neurotypical individuals and determine how it differs in autistic children. We critically examine hypotheses of invariance, change, and domain-general vs language-specific mechanisms in statistical learning, and chart out the neural underpinnings of behavioral differences and connections to language development across our groups. Major contributions: Explore the neural development of statistical learning in neurotypical children and adults using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques, particularly MVPA; delineate how variations in structural connectivity in autistic and neurotypical children relate to statistical learning outcomes
