The MSCA DC project SCALA aims to identify, catalogue, and understand the causal origins of spatial communication differences in the later lifespan across speakers of different languages and across varying spatial environments. The LALP Lab at NTNU contributes research in two domains:

PhD candidate Noemi Furlani

Spatial language and biological motion encoding in typical ageing

This project investigates the interplay between spatial cognition and spatial language across the lifespan. Under the supervision of Prof Mila Vuchanova and Dr Valentin Vulchanov, I study spatial expressions from a developmental point of view, with a special interest in spatial prepositions and biological motion verbs.

The project centers on Norwegian as the target language. The initial study will focus on adult native speakers of Norwegian and will inform on how spatial language interacts with non-verbal visuospatial cognition and how it is processed in adulthood. In a subsequent phase, I aim to explore the acquisition of biological motion verbs in early childhood and to investigate how this is related to their processing and use in later latter part of the lifespan. By integrating developmental data from a variety of age ranges, the project seeks to contribute to our understanding of how spatial cognition shapes linguistic representation and how spatial language evolves across the lifespan.

PhD candidate Zeynep Belendir

Spatial Communication Across the Lifespan in Autism

This project investigates how motion perception and spatial language interact across development in autistic and neurotypical individuals. Grounded in theories of embodied cognition, the project focuses on how biological motion -such as walking, running, or crawling- is perceived and encoded in language, particularly through Norwegian motion verbs. Using a combination of perceptual tasks, eye-tracking, and spatial language measures, the study examines how differences in visual processing, attention, and non-verbal cognition shape the comprehension and production of motion-related expressions across childhood, adulthood, and later life. Embedded in the Marie Skłodowska-Curie–UKRI Doctoral Network SCALA, the project aims to clarify how perceptual-linguistic systems co-develop and adapt over time, and to provide insights with relevance for theories of language, neurodiversity, and inclusive communication.