NSL Projects

The NSL Lab investigates the neural substrates of language and reading. We are currently working on the following projects:

Role of Word Spelling in Rhyme Decisions:

What a word looks like impacts how quickly people make decisions about what words sound like. There is a classic finding that that rhyming word pairs that differ in spelling (e.g., rough-stuff) elicit longer reaction times than rhyming pairs that are spelled similarly (e.g., rough-tough), and non-rhyming pairs that are spelled similarly (e.g., rough-though) elicit longer reaction times than non-rhyming pairs that differ in spelling (e.g., rough-damp). While this effect is clear on average, not everybody shows it to the same extent. We are investigating relationships between individual differences in this effect and reading skill.

Role of Context in Reading:

When people read, they make guesses about what words they expect to see next. When they see another word instead, this is reflected in a particular ERP signature called the N400. We are investigating the N400 in readers of different age and skill.

Right Hemisphere Involvement in Word Finding:

There are reports that when the left hemisphere is injured, right hemisphere activation is seen during language tasks. This may reflect neural reorganization or a response to increased difficulty. We are currently looking at hemisphere differences in stem completion when the task varies in difficulty.