Research Overview

Our research group studies the acquisition and use of language and their brain bases. We study both normal and disordered use of language using several complementary methodologies: behavioral experiments, neuroimaging, and computational modeling. Specific foci include

• language comprehension and production, particularly the way in which comprehension processes are shaped by constraints arising from production;
• reading acquisition and skilled reading, emphasizing the use of computational models that act as the interface between brain and behavior;
• new conceptions of working memory and its role in language use;
• the brain bases of reading and language, including neuroimaging studies and computational modeling;
• developmental language impairments ("specific language impairment" and dyslexia);
• cognitive aging and the language impairments associated with neuropathology (e.g., Alzheimer's disease).

All of these research projects are in the service of a more general goal: understanding the nature of linguistic knowledge (principally phonology, morphology, lexical semantics, syntax), how this knowledge is acquired, and its relationship to other aspects of cognition. A central issue is whether language is the expression of innate domain-specific forms of knowledge (e.g., grammar) or more general capacities to perceive, think and learn. We think that recent breakthroughs in the understanding of statistical learning mechanisms, and neural networks that represent and efficiently exploit statistical constraints, are among the most important developments in the modern study of language. We are investigating the properties of such systems, their application to classic linguistic phenomena, and their role in related skills such as reading.

Both Drs. Seidenberg and MacDonald are Senior Center Investigators in the Interdisciplinary Behavioral Science Center (IBSC; James L. McClelland, CMU, PI) involving researchers from several labs around the world, the theme of which is “Toward a neurobiologically informed framework for modeling human cognition.” This Center seeks to develop a framework for understanding human cognition, grounded in principles specifying the character of human cognitive processes, and constrained by properties of the underlying neural mechanisms.

Many of our recent articles and some of our recent posters can be downloaded from the publications archive. For additional information, especially concerning opportunities for graduate or post-doctoral study, contact Professor MacDonald or Professor Seidenberg.

University of Wisconsin-Madison
Dept of Psychology (WJ Brogden Hall)
1202 West Johnson Street
Madison, WI 53706-1696
Fax: (608) 262-4029