Our Mission
The Wicha lab focuses on understanding how the human brain processes language in real time using both behavioral and brain imaging techniques. In particular event-related brain potentials (ERPs), which is a non-invasive direct measure of electrical brain activity with excellent precision in the time domain are used to investigate the neural time course of language.
Overview of Our Research
The Wicha lab focuses on three primary areas:
- Neural time course of language comprehension
- Cognitive neuroscience of bilingualism
- Interface between language, especially bilingualism, and other cognitive processes, such as math
Methods
The primary methodologies used in the Wicha Lab are real time measures of brain activity, primarily electroencephalography (EEG) and event-related potentials (ERP), along with behavioral performance measures and other brain imaging techniques. The Wicha Lab has studied a range of populations from elementary school children to older adults. Through collaborations with other faculty, the Wicha Lab studies individuals with both neurotypical and neurodivergent processing.
Recent News
Drs. Nicole Wicha and Vanessa Cerda published a new article titled "Arithmetic in the Bilingual Brain: Language of Learning and Language Experience Effects on Simple Arithmetic in Children and Adults"
Antonio Allevato presented at the Cognitive Science Society Conference in Sydney, Australia on July 26-29, 2023
Research team published a new article titled "Bilingual problem size effect: An ERP study of multiplication verification and production in two languages"
