Research interests
My research focuses mostly on the influence of affect on cognitive processes and neural substrates of
language understanding and, secondarily, decision-making.
In the last three years I have focused my research on the process of integration
of incoming linguistic information with prior context, which is one of the basic components of discourse comprehension.
I am examining three factors that influence integration and determine whether incoming information is perceived as coherent with preceding context. These are: the
cognitive process used, the amount of contextual information taken into account during integration, and the affective state of the person who listens or reads.
My current research examines how cortical regions that integrate linguistic stimuli are modulated by these factors. It also investigates whether other brain systems interact
with activity in regions associated with language comprehension. I use EEG, fMRI, and behavioral measures of investigation.
I am also interested in processes of action control (e.g., self-control,
goals and their relations to choices, attentional biases) and cognitive biases (e.g., anchoring, gambling
fallacy), although right now projects on these topics are on the back burner.
Last updated September 2014
