This group focuses on the connections between the neural and cognitive sciences and the humanities. Research explores the implications of modern neuroscience research for the study of language, literature, and philosophy and also examines the methodological and historical foundations of scientific research in neuroscience and psychology.

Anderson, Michael, Computer Science

Bolger, Donald J., Human Development

The core of my research focuses on key issues of reading from a neurobiological, cognitive, and educational perspective. The primary goal of my research is to understand brain development with respect to reading and language and how impairment and remediation are reflected in cortex. From school-based and cross-sectional paradigms to adult training tasks, my work combines innovative and complex methodologies in functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and event-related potentials (ERP) with developmental and behavioral research.

Carlson, Thomas, Psychology

My general research interests are in object recognition and visual attention. Current research in my lab seeks to address the following questions: How do we recognize objects under natural viewing conditions? How are we able to dynamically track moving objects? And, how does the brain's representation of external objects interact with the brain's representation of our body.

Carruthers, Peter, Philosophy

His primary research interests for most of the last decade have been in the philosophy of psychology. He has worked especially on theories of consciousness and on the role of natural language in human cognition. But he has also published on such issues as: the nature and status of our folk psychology; nativism and modularity; theories of intentional content, and defence of a notion of narrow content for psychological explanation; and issues to do with evolutionary psychology and cognitive architecture. Before coming to College Park he was at the University of Sheffield (UK), where he had a spell as Head of Department and was Director of the Hang Seng Centre for Cognitive Studies. (He continues to be connected with the latter through his involvement in a large three-year interdisciplinary research project on "Innateness and the Structure of the Mind".) In a previous incarnation he trained as a Wittgensteinian, and published a couple of monographs on Wittgenstein's Tractatus.

Cohen, Leonardo G., Chief, Human Cortical Physiology Section and Stroke Neurorehabilitation Clinic,

The goal of our activity is to understand the mechanisms underlying plastic changes in the human central nervous system and to develop novel therapeutic approaches for recovery of function based on these advances. We utilize transcranial magnetic (TMS)and DC (tDCS) stimulation, fMRI, TMS in combination with fMRI, MR spectroscopy, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), PET scanning and magnetoencephalography (MEG) alone or in combination with brain computer interfaces (BCI). We investigate mechanisms of human plasticity in healthy volunteers and the impact in treatment of patients with stroke.

Faroqi Shah, Yasmeen, Hearing and Speech Sciences

At the Aphasia Research Center we study language production and comprehension of individuals with aphasia using methods such as language analysis, reaction time measures, grammaticality judgments, and treatment efficacy. In particular, we are interested in the following issues: What neural mechanisms are involved in the processing and production of verb inflections and sentences (both in normal and aphasic individuals, using magnetoencephalography)? Why do some individuals with aphasia experience difficulty in producing verb inflections? Do these individuals have parallel deficits in comprehending verb inflections? What variables, if any, influence the production of verb inflections in aphasic individuals? Do aphasic individuals experience difficulties in encoding and/or expressing temporal information? Why do some aphasic individuals experience difficulties in sentence production? How can findings from psycholinguistic literature aid in designing treatment programs for aphasic individuals?

Israel, Michael, English

Linguistics

Lasnik, Howard, Linguistics

Syntactic Theory; Logical Form; Learnability.

Leopold, David , National Institutes of Health

My research combines electrophysiology and neuroimaging techniques to explore the large-scale organization of brain activity related to the establishment and maintenance of a visual percept.

Norman, Kent, Psychology

His interests are in cognitive psychology, judgment and decision making, and cyberpsychology. Cyberpsychology includes the study of psychological issues at the intersection of human behavior and computer technologies including the Internet, social computing, human-computing, and mobile computing. Current research involves the cognitive aspects human/computer interaction, interface design, usability testing, online surveys and experiments, menu navigation, and the assessment of user satisfaction to frustration and computer rage. In addition, Dr. Norman is interested in the design of electronic educational environments for collaborative learning and the construction of knowledge.

Novick, Jared ,

My research seeks to understand the human computational system that supports the real-time interpretation and reinterpretation of sentences. In particular, central to revising initial processing commitments is 'cognitive control.' Cognitive control refers to the regulation of mental activity to guide and support flexible behavior, enabling individuals to bias the selection of appropriate over inappropriate information during goal-directed tasks. Data from behavioral, neuroimaging, and neuropsychological studies suggest shared mechanisms in prefrontal cortex (PFC) that support regulatory functions across a range of tasks, including working memory, attention, and language processing. Using a multiple-method approach, my research asks whether a cardinal function of PFC-supported cognitive control is to override early misinterpretations during sentence processing to prevent comprehension failure.

Redcay, Elizabeth, Psychology

My research examines the development and neural bases of communicative behaviors (e.g. joint attention, theory of mind, social interaction, language) and the interactions between these processes in both typical individuals and individuals with autism (a developmental disorder characterized by atypical communication). I ask how and the extent to which the brain systems underlying these behaviors become specialized and how this neural specialization is reflected in behavioral changes. To examine these questions, I use neuroimaging and behavioral methods with infants, children,adolescents and adults. In some of this research, I use paradigms in which participants engage in a real-time face-to-face communication during fMRI data acquisition, allowing for a more naturalistic social-communicative interaction.

Rey, Georges, Philosophy

His primary interest is in the relation of contemporary cognitive science to traditional problems in the philosophy of mind, especially the difficulties raised by rationality, intentionality and qualitative experience. He has written numerous articles, and a recent book on contemporary philosophy of mind, in which he argues that a computational/representational theory of mind seems to present a promising way of meeting the first two difficulties, and even a weakened version of the third; but that it will never satisfy us completely because of problems inherent in the way we involuntarily think of things that look and act like our conspecifics.

Uriagereka, Juan, Linguistics

In my work, I study syntactic patterns with an eye on trying to understand what they may tell us about the broader questions that my research pursues. I have specialized mostly in Indo-European (particularly Romance) languages and Basque, presenting analyses from these arenas in a comparative way. I often attempt to relate conclusions reached in the area of syntax to work in the evolution of language or a variety of its performative aspects.