Learning
Research and Development Center
Room 605
3939 O'Hara St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
TEL: 412-624-7078
FAX: 412-624-9149
E-Mail: fiez@pitt.edu
E-Mail: fiez@pitt.edu
Julie A. Fiez
Affiliation
- Research Scientist, Learning Research & Development Center, Univ. of Pittsburgh
- Associate Professor, Dept. of Neuroscience, Univ. of Pittsburgh
- Associate Professor, Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Univ. of Pittsburgh
- Associate Professor, Dept. of Psychology, Univ. of Pittsburgh
Summary of research
Overall, I have a commitment to understanding the neural basis of cognitive functions using neuroimaging as the primary methodology. Other methodologies, such as behavioral studies of normal and brain damaged subjects, are used to provide converging evidence to support the neuroimaging results and to provide an interdisciplinary perspective.
About half of the research in the lab is focused on the neural basis of language processing. For one set of studies, verbal working memory is used as a model system in which to explore the brain regions involved in articulatory and phonological (word sound) processing. For instance, we are investigating the specific contributions of the cerebellum and Broca's area to "inner speech", and the relationship between working memory and sentence comprehension. Other projects are tackling questions about how the brain supports reading. Here, we have a particular emphasis on investigating the effects of different writing systems (e.g., English versus Chinese) on brain organization, and the interplay between native and second language processing.
The second major domain of study in the lab is in the neural basis of reward and motivation. We have used neuroimaging to identify brain regions that selectively respond to rewards and punishments. We are now beginning a series of studies that will examine the degree to which trait and state can influence reward-relating processing. For instance, we are studying how some individuals appear to use a decision-making strategy that is overly sensitive to immediate rewards, and how neural activity is modulated by contextual information, such as the perceived relationship between one's actions and reward outcomes. While most of the work has used money as a reward, we are increasingly investigating the effects of nicotine in heavy smokers, in order to better understand how our results pertain to processes involved in drug addiction and abuse.
Personal background
I grew up in Caldwell, Idaho (a small town about 60 miles from Boise). From there, I moved to Atlanta, Georgia and studied biology at Emory University. After I graduated in 1987, I started a graduate program in Neuroscience at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. I used positron emission tomography (PET) scanning to study the neural basis of lexical processing for my dissertation, working with Steve Petersen and Marcus Raichle. I completed my Ph.D. in 1992 and then did a joint post-doctoral fellowship with Daniel Tranel at the University of Iowa and Steve Petersen at Washington Univeristy. My aim was to use the human lesion method to provide convergent information about the role of the inferior frontal gyrus gained through functional neuroimaging studies. My formal training ended in 1997, when I joined the Department of Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh as an Assistant Professor. I am now an Associate Professor, and my affiliations with the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, the Department of Neuroscience, and the Learning Research and Development Center reflect my continued interest combining neuroscientific and psychological approaches to the study of the mind and brain.
Awards
- 2002, American Psychological Association Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology
- 2001, Chancellor's Distinguished Research Award
- 1999-2001, Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow
- 1997, Wiley Young Investigator Award in Human Brain Mapping
- 1992-1996, Fellow, Charles A. Dana Foundation
- 1993, Finalist, Donald Lindsley Prize in Behavioral Neurosci., Soc. for Neuroscience
- 1991, Olin Fellowship for Outstanding Biomedical Research, Washington University
- 1987-1992, Fellow, Spencer T. Olin Foundation, Washington University
- 1987-1990, Fellow, National Science Foundation
- 1986, Phi Beta Kappa, Emory University
- 1983-1987, Woodruff Fellow, Emory University
Active Grants
NIMH Integrative Behavioral Science Center, Project 3 (1/01/02-12/31/06), "Toward a Neurobiologically Constrained Framework for Modeling Human Cognition. Interactive Processes in Language: Sentence Processing". PI: M. E. McDonald. Co-investigators: J. Fiez, K. Patterson, D. Plaut.
NIH RO1DA14103, (8/01/01-7/31/04), "fMRI Studies of the Neural Basis of Reward Processing". PI: J. Fiez. Co-investigators: V. Stenger, D. Kaufer.
NIH RO1MH59256 , (7/1/00-6/30/05), "Articulatory/Phonological Processes in Working Memory". PI: J. Fiez. Co-Investigators: V. Stenger, J. Cohen.
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, (9/16/99-9/15/2001), "Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship". PI: J. Fiez.
NSF IRI-9720350, (10/1/97-9/30/2001), "The Biological Basis of Incremental Learning". PI: D. Touretzky. Co-PIs: J. Fiez, B. Skaggs, J. McClelland, T. S. Lee.
NSF IRI-9720348, (10/1/97-5/31/2002), "Intervention Strategies that Promote Learning: Their Basis and Use in Enhancing Literacy". PI: J. McClelland. Co-PIs: J. Fiez, W. Schneider, D. Plaut, D. Mostow.
NSF SBR 9873465 , (10/1/98-9/30/2001), "Computational Models and Coordinated Neuroimaging of Learning and Cognitive Function". PI: W. Schneider. Co-PIs: J. Fiez, L. Reder, J. McClelland, C. Carter, J. Anderson, R. Lewis.
Recent Publications
Wilson, S.J., Sayette, M.A., Delgado, M.R., & Fiez, J.A. (2005). Instructed smoking expectancy modulates cue-elicited neural activity: A preliminary study. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 7, 637-645.
Wilson, Stephen J.; Sayette, Michael A.; and Fiez, Julie A. "Pre-frontal responses to drug cues: a neurocognitive analysis." Nature Neuroscience, March 2004, Vol. 7(3), 211-214.
May, J. Christopher; Delgado, Mauricio R.; Dahl, Ronald E.; Stenger, Andrew; Ryan, Neal D.; Fiez, Julie A.; and Carter, Cameron S. "Event-Related Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Reward-Related Brain Circuitry in Children and Adolescents." Biological Psychiatry, 2004, 55, 359-366.
Tricomi, E.M.; Delgado, M.R.; and Fiez, J.A. "Modulation of Caudate Activity by Action Contingency." Neuron, Vol. 41, 281-292, January 22, 2004.
Delgado, M.R.; Locke, H.M.; Stenger, V.A.; and Fiez, J.A. "Dorsal striatum responses to reward and punishment: Effects of valence and magnitude manipulations." Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 2003, 3(1), 27-38.
Chein, J.M.; Ravizza, S.M.; and Fiez, J.A. "Using neuroimaging to evaluate models of working memory and their implications for language processing." Journal of Neurolinguistics, 2003, 16, 315-339.
McCandliss, Bruce D.; Fiez, Julie A.; Protopapas, Athanassios; Conway, Mary; and McClelland, James. L. "Success and failure in teaching the [r]-[l] contrast to Japanese adults: Tests of a Hebbian model of plasticity and stablization in spoken language perception." Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 2002, 2(2), 89-108.
Chein, J.M.; Fissell, K.; Jacobs, S.; and Fiez, J.A. "Functional heterogeneity within Broca's area during verbal working memory." Physiology & Behavior, 2002, 77, 635-639.
McClelland, James L.; Fiez, Julie A.; and McCandliss, Bruce D. "Teaching the /r/-/l/ discrimination to Japanese adults: behavioral and neural aspects." Physiology & Behavior, 2002, 77, 657-662.
MacAndrew, Danean K.; Klatzky, Roberta L.; Fiez, Julie A.; McClelland, James L.; and Becker, James T. "The phonological-similarity effect differentiates between two working memory tasks." Physiological Science, Sep. 2002, Vol. 13, No. 5, pp. 465-468.
Chein, Jason M. and Fiez, Julie A. "Dissociation of Verbal Working Memory System Components Using a Delayed Serial Recall Task." Cerebral Cortex, Nov. 2001, 11, 1003-1014.
Fiez, Julie A. "Bridging the Gap Between Neuroimaging and Neuropsychology: Using Working Memory as a Case-Study." Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 2001, Vol. 23, No. 01, pp. 19-31.
Fiez, Julie A. "Neuroimaging studies of speech: an overview of techniques and methodological approaches." Journal of Communication Disorders, 2001, 34, 445-454.
Rosen, H.J., MD; Petersen, S.E., PhD; Linenweber, M.R., BS; Snyder, A.Z., MD, PhD; White, D.A., PhD; Chapman, L., MA; Dromerick, A.W., MD; Fiez, J.A., PhD; and Corbetta, M., PhD. "Neural correlates of recovery from aphasia after damage to left inferior frontal cortex." Neurology, Dec. 2000, 55, 2(2), 1883-1894.
"Task-Dependent Modulation of Regions in the Left Inferior Frontal Cortex during Semantic Processing." Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, Vol. 13, No. 6, pp. 829-843.
Fiez, Julie A.; Damasio, Hanna; and Grabowski, Thomas J. "Lesion Segmentation and Manual Warping to a Reference Brain: Intra- and Interobserver Reliability." Human Brain Mapping, 2000, 9, 192-211.
Sandak, Rebecca and Fiez, Julie A. "Stuttering: a view from neuroimaging." The Lancet, Aug. 5, 2000, Vol. 356, pp. 445-446.
Delgado, M.R.; Nystrom, L.E.; Fissell, C.; Noll, D.C.; and Fiez, J.A. "Tracking the Hemodynamic Responses to Reward and Punishment in the Striatum." The American Physiological Society, 2000.
Fiez, Julie A. "Sound and meaning: how native language affects reading strategies." Nature Neuroscience, Jan. 2000, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 3-5.