My main research interests concern brain mechanisms important for language processing, in particular syntactic processing. I am primarily interested in how these language systems, and the development of these systems, are dependent on language experience and proficiency. I use the complementary techniques of event-related potentials (ERPs) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to explore these questions in both monolingual and bilingual adults. In addition, I am involved in an ongoing research project in which we use ERPs, fMRI, and behavioral measures to characterize the development of brain systems important for language and the effects of experience on the development of these systems.
In one research project we use ERPs and fMRI to explore the question of whether differences in proficiency among normal monolingual adults will be reflected in differences in neural organization for syntactic processing. Using an auditory syntactic processing paradigm we have found evidence that differences in proficiency are reflected in differences in the ERP response to syntactic violations, both in groups who differ on proficiency and in a correlational analysis across individuals with a wider range of proficiency scores. Using the same auditory paradigm in the fMRI methodology, we have also found that differences in proficiency are reflected in differences in the recruitment of left perisylvian language areas for syntactic processing. We gathered both ERP and fMRI data in this paradigm from a subset of participants, which has permitted analyses which shed light on the possible neural generators of ERP indices of syntactic processing. We also gathered diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data from these participants, which will allow us to explore the hypothesis that differences in proficiency might be related to differences in white matter connectivity between perisylvian regions important for language processing. Additionally, using behavioral measures we have found evidence that differences in adult language proficiency are related to childhood socioeconomic status (SES) environment, raising the hypothesis that the effects of childhood experience on language proficiency may endure into adulthood.
In another research project we are studying bilingual adults using ERPs and fMRI to explore the effects of age of acquisition on neural organization for syntactic processing. Using the same behavioral measures and auditory syntactic processing paradigm used to study monolinguals of varying proficiency, we are studying late learners of English who have achieved a level of proficiency comparable to that of some monolinguals. Using this approach we have found ERP evidence that late learners matched for proficiency with monolinguals rely on different neural systems to achieve this level of proficiency. Preliminary fMRI evidence from late second language learners is consistent with this ERP evidence.
Other related projects involve the use of experimental manipulations to explore the interaction between semantic content, narrative context, and task in syntactic processing. To that end, the auditory syntactic processing paradigm also includes a "Jabberwocky" condition, in which English open class words are replaced by pronounceable pseudo-words, which allows us to examine syntactic processing when semantic cues are greatly reduced. In addition to the auditory syntactic processing paradigm, we also use a paradigm featuring narrative context with visual cues (claymation animation featuring a penguin named "Pingu") and a greater variety of violation conditions, including phrase structure, verb agreement, and semantic violations. This allows us to examine language processing in a more ecologically valid context, and also allows us to examine the neural response to syntactic violations under different task conditions. We are gathering ERP and fMRI data from monolingual adults who vary in proficiency and bilingual late learners in these paradigms.
Another research project I am working on is an ongoing effort to characterize the development of brain systems important for language. We have used the language processing paradigm described above, with several violation conditions in a narrative context with visual cues, with ERPs to study specific aspects of language processing in children between three and eight years of age. We are currently expanding the scope of this project to include ERP, fMRI, DTI, and behavioral data from participants up to 17 years of age. This will allow for a more complete characterization of the developmental timecourse of specific aspects of language processing and of the effects of experience on these systems, and will also provide evidence bearing on the hypothesis that the effects of childhood language experience related to SES environment on language proficiency may endure into adulthood. We are also gathering genetic data from these participants, which will allow for the assessment of possible effects of allelic variation on the development of systems important for language.
Another major interest is sharing my passion for science with the public. I am currently the lab's outreach coordinator, and in this position I am involved in many aspects of sharing our research with the public. I coordinate and give classroom presentations about the brain and our research to students at all levels: elementary school, middle school, high school, and university. I also arrange class field trips to our lab and to the Lewis Center for Neuroimaging. To request school-related outreach activities, please see the Outreach tab on the main page.
In addition, I am a co-coordinator and presenter for the annual Psychology/Neuroscience camp, which is part of the Summer Academy to Inspire Learning, a series of free, week-long camps whose goal is to encourage bright high school students to start thinking about college early. I also served as a co-producer for Changing Brains, an educational DVD produced by the BDL for parents, educators, and policymakers. To order a copy, please see the DVD tab on the main page or go to: http://changingbrains.org
When I'm not at the lab I play rugby for the Eugene Rugby Football Club, and am a volunteer assistant coach for the UO Women's Rugby Club. I also enjoy playing basketball, racquetball, hiking, and mountain biking. Other intellectual interests include poetry, the skeptical movement embracing science and reason, and learning foreign languages. I am also an avid traveler, with favorite destinations including Russia, Eastern Europe, and Scandinavia. Other non-intellectual interests include beer and good vodka.
Pakulak, E., & Neville, H.J. (In preparation). Syntactic processing in adult monolinguals and proficiency-matched bilinguals indexed by event-related potentials.
Pakulak, E., & Neville, H.J. (In preparation). Assessing the relative contributions of proficiency and socioeconomic background to individual differences in brain organization for language.
Pakulak, E., & Neville, H.J. (In preparation). Proficiency differences in syntactic processing of native speakers indexed by functional magnetic resonance imaging.
Pakulak, E., & Neville, H.J. (Under review). Proficiency differences in syntactic processing of native speakers indexed by event-related potentials. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.
Neville, H., Andersson, A., Bagdade, O., Bell, T., Currin, J., Fanning, J., Klein, S., Lauinger, B., Pakulak, E., Paulsen, D., Sabourin, L., Stevens, C., Sundborg, S., & Yamada, Y. (2008). Effects of music training on brain and cognitive development in under-privledged 3- to 5-year-old children: Preliminary results. In Gazzaniga, M.S., et al., Eds. Learning, arts, and the brain. New York: Dana Press.
Pakulak, E. (1997). Second person pronouns of address in contemporary standard Russian. M.A. Thesis, Department of Russian, University of Oregon.
Pakulak, E., Dow, M., & Neville, H. (2009). An investigation of the neural generators of ERP indices of syntactic processing using proficiency-related ERP modulations in an ERP-fMRI paradigm. Poster presented at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, San Francisco.
Batterink, L., Karns, C., Yamada, Y., & Neville, H. (2009). The role of awareness in semantic and syntactic processing: an ERP attentional blink study. Poster presented at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, San Francisco.
Bell, T., Batterink, L., Currin, J., Pakulak, E., Stevens, C., & Neville, H. (2008). Genetic influences on selective auditory attention as indexed by ERPs. Poster session presented at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, San Francisco.
Pakulak, E., Hyde, S., Jacobs, Z., & Neville, H.J. (2007). Proficiency differences revealed by ERPs and fMRI. Poster session presented at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, New York, NY.
Sabourin, L., Pakulak, E., Paulsen, D., Fanning, J., & Neville, H. (2007). The effects of age, language proficiency, and SES on ERP indices of syntactic processing in children. Poster session presented at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, New York, NY.
Andersson, A., Yamada, Y., Pakulak, E., & Neville, H. (2006). Second language acquisition in 6-to 8-year-olds: Relationship between proficiency and N400 responses to semantic anomalies. Poster session presented at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, San Francisco.
Pakulak, E., Garner, A., & Neville, H. (2006). Individual differences in syntactic processing as revealed by ERPs and fMRI. Poster session presented at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, San Francisco.
Pakulak, E., Sanders, L., Paulsen, D. J., & Neville, H. (2005). Semantic and syntactic processing in children from different familial socio-economic status as indexed by ERPs. Poster session presented at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, New York, NY.
Pakulak, E., Sanders, L., Schachter, J., & Neville, H. (2005). Syntactic processing in proficiency matched adult monolinguals and late bilinguals: An ERP study. Poster session presented at the IX International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience, Havana City, Cuba.
Pakulak, E., Sanders, L., Schachter, J., & Neville, H. (2004). Syntactic processing in proficiency matched adult monolinguals and late bilinguals: An ERP study. Poster session presented at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, San Francisco.
Pakulak, E., & Neville, H. (2004). Individual differences in online syntactic processing as reflected by ERPs. Poster session presented at the the 17th Annual CUNY Conference on Human Sentence Processing, Washington, DC.
Huddleston, E., White, L., Sanders, L., Pakulak, E., Coch, D., & Neville, H. (2003). Task effects on ERP measures of sentence processing. Poster session presented at the Ninth Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Association for Interdisciplinary Learning.
Pakulak, E., Harris, A. M., Yamada, Y., Coch, D., Schachter, J., & Neville, H. (2002). Syntactic processing without semantic cues in adult monolinguals of varying proficiency: An ERP study. Poster session presented at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, San Francisco.
Yamada, Y., Harris, A. M., Pakulak, E., Schachter, J., & Neville, H. (2002). Language proficiency in monolinguals and bilinguals reflected in ERPs during sentence processing. Poster session presented at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, San Francisco.
Pakulak, E. (2007). The musical brain: what is the scientific evidence for the benefits of music? Invited public lecture sponsored by the Umpqua Valley Federated Music Club and Roseburg District OMTA, Roseburg, OR.
Pakulak, E., & Neville, H. (2006). Experience shapes brain systems relevant for language. Invited talk given at the workshop On-line Methods in Children's Language Processing, New York, NY.
Pakulak, E., & Neville, H. (2005) Brain Development Laboratory HFSP Progress Report 2005. Presentation given to the Human Frontier Science Program Consortium on Bilingualism and Language Development, Venice, Italy.