Bio

I am a cognitive neuroscientist and speech-language pathologist with a broad background investigating the neurological basis of language and cognition. I am the Director of the Cognition, Rehabilitation, and Neuroscience in Atypical Language Lab (CRANIAL Lab) at Chapman University. At the CRANIAL Lab we utilize a wide range of cutting edge behavioral and neuroimaging methods in our research including eye tracking, MRI, and electroencephalography (EEG). We conduct both theoretical and applied clinical research in adults with neurological disorders resulting from stroke or dementia. Specifically, my research interests include understanding the neural mechanisms that drive language recovery following brain injury such as stroke, and the mechanisms that slow down decline in patients with neurodegenerative diseases. I am also interested in understanding language and reading comprehension in healthy individuals to better understand brain-language relationships. My reading research aims to understand how to improve reading comprehension, even in strong readers, as well as individuals with reading impairments. Research specialties: Behavioral research, eye tracking research, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and electroencephalography and event-related brain potentials (EEG/ERPs), neuromodulation using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)