work

Neural dynamics of syntax processing

As my PhD topic i’m looking at the neural dynamics that underpin the processing of basic syntax – that is the binding between a head and it’s modifier or a word and its dependent – and i’m comparing those dynamics between the modalities of production and perception. Syntax is a heavily researched topic and the many brain-language models out there have different predictions about what brain areas are involved and in what temporal dynamic. We use a minimalistic syntactic contrast and compare the neural dynamics between production and perception. More details soon.

Language production and perception

At the university of Aix-Marseille i supported a few projects in Dr Kristof Strijkers’ team. Broadly, we’re interested in the neural dynamics underlying the production and perception of language and specifically to what extent they overlap in terms of the brain areas that enable them as well as the time sequences they follow. We focus on the single-word level and look at the dynamics of well-studied phenomena. Specifically, we know that at the semantic level, words that relate to movement, like tools, activate the motor cortex more, while words that rely more on visual features, like animals, activate the visual cortex more. Similarly, at the phonetic level, words that contain a bilabial (a sound that is produced using the two lips, like /p/ or /b/) will activate the lip region of the motor cortex more, while words that contain a dental (produced using the tongue on the teeth, like /t/ ot /d/) will activate the tongue region more. We look at temporal dynamics of the above semantic and phonetic effects and compare them between the modalities of production in perception.

Acquisition of adjectives

At the University of Leeds i worked on a project looking at adjective acquisition in preschoolers. We used eye tracking to look at the development of the ability to use contrastive inferencing – when children start taking into account the pragmatic information available to guide their processing of adjectives. If in a number of big and little objects there is a contrasting pair (like a big cow and a little cow), during the processing of “Where’s the little cow?” adults orient to the little cow during “little” even if there are other little objects around. Children younger than 3,6 don’t take pragmatic cues and still look at other little objects until they hear “cow”. You can read more about the project here and find the preprints here and here.

Course development

At UCL Arena i worked on the development of online training courses for research staff, on topics including research supervision, personal tutoring and research impact.

MYRIAD

The MYRIAD project looks at the effect of mindfulness training on the development of resilience in adolescents. Adolescence is a socially and emotionally tumultuous period in our lifetime and is also the time when a lot of psychological disorders begin to show symptoms that can last a lifetime. This project worked with 84 schools in the UK to conduct a cluster-randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effect of mindfulness on mental health, stress and wellbeing. I supported data collection. You can read more about the project here and find a related article here.

Threat perception

My Master’s thesis looked at the effects of threat on attention in people with different types of anxiety. Anxious arousal is associated with bodily symptoms like increased heartrate and sweaty hands, whereas anxious apprehension is associated with pervasive worrying thoughts about the future. While the two often co-occur, there are also reasons to believe they are distinct. In this behavioural experiment i used a dichotic listening task (playing two different sentences in each headphone simultaneously) to compare the effect of threat on attention in these two types of anxiety. The results suggested that in anxious apprehension, the more threat there is in the environment, the harder it is to control your attention, but in anxious arousal, higher levels of threat actually make you more alert. You can read my thesis here.

Teach for Bulgaria

Teach for Bulgaria works with talented graduates who want to become teachers and places them in the schools where they are most needed. I designed materials for teachers in training including how to inspire agency, teaching enduring understandings, and integrating reflection into their own learning and CPD. I also ran a qualitative study to look at teachers’ needs from an evaluation tool they used in school.