I am a doctoral candidate at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics and the Donders Center for Cognitive Neuroimaging. My research primarily focuses on unraveling the temporal components associated with word production. Put more simply, I investigate the timing of different stages involved in word production.

In order to investigate this, I primarily utilize picture naming paradigms and transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS. Using this tool I can introduce some “noise” to a specific brain area and temporarily interfere with ongoing brain activity. This is called creating a “virtual lesion” and it allows us to probe the functional contribution of that particular brain region in healthy participants. If I stimulate a given brain area and it causes them to produce a word slower than they normally would, I can say something about that regions contribution to the process. In this way, I hope to answer critical questions regarding the temporal organization and flow of information that underlies our speech.

Co-supervised by prof. Peter Indefrey