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Postdoctoral research fellow, Language and Aphasia Lab

CV (PDF: 159kb / 6 pages)

Research Interests

I study people’s ability to process language efficiently, with a strong emphasis on how cognitive control influences verbal communication or tasks requiring verbal processing. Producing fluent meaningful language is heavily dependent on executive abilities, and I use various methods, such as behavioral experimentations, computational modeling, Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS), Voxel-based Lesion- Symptom Mapping (VLSM), and recently, eye-tracking to learn the exact nature of these dependencies. I use three populations: healthy younger adults, older adults (to understand the cognitive changes during normal aging), and post-stroke brain-damaged patients (to understand the consequences of damage to the cognitive system). In the future, I hope to use the fruit of this research for developing better methods of learning in neurologically-healthy individuals, as well as re-learning the lost information in brain-damaged patients.

Selected Awards

● Robert J. Glushko Award for best dissertation in Cognitive Science, 2012.

● Academy of Aphasia’s best presentation award, 2009.

Grants

● State of PA Health Research Formula Grant (Co-PI with Dr. Myrna Schwartz).

Current Projects (at MRRI and University of Pennsylvania)

Brain stimulation (tDCS) projects

- The effect of prefrontal boosting on error detection, repair and disfluencies (with Sharon Thompson-Schill and Kristina Woodard).

- The effect of prefrontal boosting on the use of referential forms in language (collaboration with Dr. Jennifer Arnold, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill).

Eye-tracking projects

- Inhibition of irrelevant information during sentence processing (with Sharon Thompson-Schill, collaboration with John Trueswell)

- Facilitatory or inhibitory nature of hierarchical cueing in patients with LIFG damage (collaboration with Dan Mirman).

Behavioral/computational projects

- The effect of aging on cognitive control: contrasting transient and sustained costs (with Sharon Thompson-Schill)

- Influence of successful self-monitoring on re-learning in aphasia (with Myrna Schwartz, collaboration with Erica Middleton).

- Monitoring through production or comprehension: evidence from children of different age groups (collaboration with Richard Hanley, University of Essex)

Publications

Journal Publications

Nozari, N., & Dell, G.S. (under review). Who are the lexical routers? An Investigation of Mechanisms of Auditory Word Repetition in Aphasia.

Nozari, N., & Thompson-Schill, S.L. (under review). What can you expect from boosting prefrontal cortex?

Dell, G. S., Nozari, N., & Oppenheim, G. M. (in press). Lexical access: Behavioral and computational considerations. In V. Ferreira, M. Goldrick, & M. Miozzo (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Language Production. Oxford University Press.

Nozari, N., & Dell, G. S. (2012). Feature migration in time: Reflection of selective attention on speech errors. Journal of Experimental Psychology-Learning Memory and Cognition, 38(4), 1084-1090. doi: 10.1037/a0026933 PMID: 22268910

Budd, M. J., Hanley, & J.R., Nozari, N. (2011). Two routes or one in children's auditory repetition of single words? Journal of Psycholinguistic research. DOI: 10.1007/s10936-011-9189-8.

Nozari, N., Dell, G.S., Schwartz, M.F. (2011). Is comprehension the basis for error detection? A conflict-based theory of error detection in speech production. Cognitive Psychology, 63(1), pp. 1-33. DOI: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010028511000430.

Nozari, N., Kittredge, A.K., Dell, G.S., Schwartz, M.F. (2010). Naming and repetition in aphasia: Steps, routes, and frequency effects. Journal of memory and Language, 63, 541-559. PMCID: PMC2976549

Nozari, N., & Dell, G.S., (2009). More on lexical bias: how efficient can a “lexical editor” be? Journal of Memory and Language, 60, 291-307. PMCID: PMC2746698

Nozari, N., Ferri, C.P., Farin, F., Noroozian, M., Salehi, M., Seyedian, M., & Prince, M. (2009). Validation of the 10/66 Dementia Research Group's 10/66 Dementia diagnosis in Iran. International Psychogeriatrics, 21(3), 604-605. PMID: 19216821

Nozari, N., & Tahmasebi M. (2007). Thromboembolism and Its Particular Importance in Orthopedics. Tehran University Journal of Orthopedics, 22,12-7. [article in Persian]

Behzadi, A., Nozari, N., Ekhtiari, H. (2006). Reasoning, Induction and Language; Literature Review and the Practical Methods of Assessment. Iranian Journal of Cognitive Science, 4, 24-9. [article in Persian]

Conference Proceedings

Nozari, N. & Dell, G.S. (2011). Selective attention and speech errors: feature migration in time. In L. Carlson, C. Hölscher, & T. Shipley (Eds.), Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 1370-1375). Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society. PMID: 22268910

Dell, G. S., Nozari, N., Kittredge, A.K., & Schwartz, M. F. (2009). Theoretical perspectives on impairments in spoken language processing. Proceedings of the 31st Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Cognitive Science Society.

In Preparation

Nozari, N., Woodard, K., & Thompson-Schill, S.L., (in preparation). All facilitation: no evidence of inhibition during cathodal transcranial direct stimulation of left inferior frontal gyrus.

Nozari, N., Schwartz, M.F., & Coslett, H.B., (in preparation). Does fluency of speech depend on executive abilities?

Dell, G.S., Schwartz, M.F., Nozari, N., Faseyitan, O., & Coslett, H.B. (in preparation). Voxel-based lesion-parameter mapping: Identifying the neural correlates of a computational model of word production in aphasia

Presentations / Talks

“Does Fluency of Speech Depend on Executive Abilities?” Poster presentation, 7th International Workshop on Language Production, Jul 18-20, New York, New York.

“Selective Attention and Speech Errors: Feature Migration in Time.” Platform presentation, 33rd Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, Jul 22, 2011, Boston, Massachusetts.

“A new model of monitoring in speech production” Platform presentation at the Outstanding Graduate Student Seminar, Beckman Institute of Sciences, Dec 1, 2010, Urbana, Ilinois.

“Does error detection require comprehension?” Invited talk, Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute, February 18, 2009, Philadlephia, Pennsylvania.

“A computational case-series approach to frequency effect in aphasic word repetition”. Platform presentation, Academy of Aphasia, 47th annual meeting, October, 18-20, 2009, Boston, Massachusetts.

“Parallel case-series analysis of aphasic word production”. Platform presentation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, September 11, 2009, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois.

“A computational case-series approach to investigating the architecture of the lexical access system”, invited talk, Moss Rehabilitation Institute, March 12, 2009, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

“A computational case-series approach to frequency effect in aphasic word repetition” Poster session, Cognitive Neuroscience Society, 16th annual meeting, March 21-24, 2009, San Francisco, California.

“30 years of lexical bias war: time to call a truce”. Platform presentation, Beckman Institute of Sciences, November 11, 2008, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois.

“Lexical bias in speech production: how efficient can a lexical editor be?” Poster session, Psychonomic Society, 48th annual meeting, November 15-18, 2007, Long Beach, California.

“Monitoring or feedback? Evidence from the lexical bias effect” Platform presentation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, August 30, 2007, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois.

“Correlation Between Findings on Brain SPECT and Scores on Neuropsychological Testing in Patients Diagnosed as Mild Cognitive Impairment.” Poster session, International Alzheimer’s Disease International, 21st annual meeting, September 28-October 1, 2005, Istanbul, Turkey.

“Effects of a Major Social Stressor (war) on the Patterns of Tumor Extension in Breast Cancer Patients.” Poster session, American Society of Breast Disease, 29th Annual Symposium, April 14-16, 2005, Las Vegas, Nevada.