People
Fiez, Julie
LRDC Research Scientist and Project DirectorAssociate Professor, Dept. of Psychology
PhD, Washington University at St. Louis
Program(s): Cognitive Program, Cognitive Neuroscience Concentration, Clinical Program
Contact:
605 LRDC
412-624-7078
412-422-9149
fiez@pitt.edu
http://www.cnbc.cmu.edu/faculty/fiez.shtml
Summary:
Research in Dr. Fiez's lab is characterized by 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. Ongoing research projects cover three general topics, as described below.
One area of interest is in 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. We are trying to understand the specific contributions of the cerebellum and Broca's area to the maintenance of verbal information, and the relationship between working memory and other language skills. Other projects are tackling questions about reading, second language acquisition, and morphology (how suffixes and affixes are used). A second area of interest is in the neural basis of reward and motivation. We have used neuroimaging to identify brain regions that selevtively respond to rewards and punishments, and are now beginning a series of studies that will examine how trait and state influence the activation within these areas, and how these areas may enhance the performance and learning of cognitive tasks. Finally, across both the domains of language and reward-related processing, there are projects that seek to understand general principles of neural plasticity and learning. For example, one line of work has investigated the neural basis of experience-dependent changes in the language system, using a computational model to guide the search.
Research Interests: behavioral and neuroimaging investigations of: 1) language, reading, and working memory, 2) reward and motivation, and 3) learning and plasticity
Projects/Labs
- Pittsburgh Science of Learning Center (PSLC)
- Behavioral Brain (B2) Research Training Program Funding
Publications
- Perfetti, C. A., Liu, Y., Fiez, J., & Tan, L-H. (in press). The neural bases of reading: The accommodation of the brain’s reading network to writing systems. In P. Cornelissen, M. Kringelbach, & P. Hansen (Eds.), The neural basis of reading. Oxford University Press (Abstract-html)
- Nelson, J. R., Liu, Y., Fiez, J., & Perfetti, C. A. (2009). Assimilation and accommodation patters in ventral occipitotemporal cortex in learning a second writing system. Human Brain Mapping, 30, 810-820.
- Goldberg, R.F., Perfetti, C.A., J. A. Fiez, Schneider, W (2007) Selective retrieval of abstract semantic knowledge In left prefrontal cortex. The Journal of Neuroscience 2007 • 27(14):3790 –3798
- Liu, Y., Dunlap, S., Fiez, J., & Perfetti, C.A. (2007). Evidence for neural accommodation to a writing system following learning. Human Brain Mapping, 28, 1223-1234. (Abstract-html)
- Perfetti, C. A., Liu, Y., Fiez, J. Nelson, J., Bolger, D. J., & Tan, L-H. (2007). Reading in two writing systems: Accommodation and assimilation in the brain’s reading network. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 10(2). 131-146. Special issue on “Neurocognitive approaches to bilingualism: Asian languages”, P. Li (Ed.) (Abstract-html)
- Wilson, SJ, Sayette, MA, & Fiez, JA (2004). Prefrontal responses to drug cues: A neurocognitive analysis. Nature Neuroscience, 7:211-214 (Abstract-pdf)
- Tricomi, EM, Delgado, MR, and Fiez, JA (2004). Modulation of caudate activity by action contingency. Neuron, 41:281-292 (Abstract-pdf)
- Ravizza, SM, Delgado, MR, Chein, JM, Becker, JT, Fiez, JA (2004). Functional dissociations within the inferior parietal cortex iin verbal working memory. NeuroImage, 22:562-73 (Abstract-pdf)
- Chein JM, Ravizza SM, Fiez JA (2003). Using neuroimaging to evaluate models of working memory and their implications for language processing. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 16, 315-339. (Abstract-pdf)
There are 9 publications total. View All
Honors and Awards
- APA Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology (2002)
- Chancellor's Distinguished Research Award (2001)
- Wiley Young Investigator Award in Human Brain Mapping (1997)
