Lab Introduction & Major Research Interests
Our research examines the cognitive-neural bases of human language, with a particular emphasis on the characterization of systematic variations among individuals. Recent projects emphasize (1) roles of the right hemisphere in syntactic processing and sequence learning; (2) roles of predictive processing in acquiring new linguistic meaning and connotation; and (3) how the examined mechanisms may be modulated by individual differences in inter-hemispheric communication, language experiences, and cognitive resources. We answer these questions by developing novel experimental designs, by combining the Event-Related Potential (ERP) technique with a wide array of behavioral or cognitive neuroscience methods, including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), Diffusion Tension Imaging (DTI), and eye tracking, and by contrasting observations from different populations including native speakers of different languages, second language learners, children, young adults, and healthy older adults.
Recent Representative Publication ( * corresponding author)
1. Weng, Y. L. and Lee, C. L.* (2020). Reduced language lateralization is associated with weaker inter- hemispheric inhibition: evidence from healthy young right-handers with familial sinistrality. Brain Research, 146815.
2. Lee, C. L.*, Huang, H. W., Federmeier, K. D., and Buxbaum, L. J. (2018). Sensory and semantic activations evoked by action attributes of manipulable objects: Evidence from ERPs. NeuroImage, 167, 331-341.
3. Lee, C. L.* (2018). Familial sinistrality and language processing. Psychology of Learning and Motivation, 68, 143-177.
4. Chen, P-H., Yeh, C., Lu, C., Hsieh, S.-K., Chou, T.-L., Su, L. I.-W., Lee, C. L.* (2018). Multiple scaffolding mechanisms for L2 syntactic processing: An Event-Related Potential study. Journal of Chinese Language Teaching,15,2,63-93.
5. Lee, C. L.*, and Federmeier, K. D. (2015). It’s all in the family: brain asymmetry and syntactic processing of word class. Psychological Science. 26, 7, 997-1005.
6. Shen, Z. Y., Tsai, Y. T. and Lee, C. L.* (2015). Joint influence of metaphor familiarity and mental imagery ability on action metaphor comprehension: An ERP study. Language and Linguistics, 16(4), 615-637.
7. Lee, C. L.*, Mirman, D., and Buxbaum, L. J. (2014). Abnormal dynamics of activation of object use information in apraxia: evidence from eyetracking. Neuropsychologia. 59, 13-26.
8. Lee, C. L.*, and Federmeier, K. D. (2012). Ambiguity’s aftermath: How age differences in resolving lexical ambiguity affect subsequent comprehension. Neuropsychologia, 50, 5, 869-879.