Julie Fiez , Assistant Professor

Psychology Department & Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition
Univerisity of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Phone: (412) 624-7078
Email: (412) 624-9149

Research Interests:

Research in Dr. Fiez's lab focuses upon investigating the neural basis of
language processing through the use of functional imaging studies and the
behavioral analysis of normal individuals and patients with focal brain
lesions. An interdisciplinary approach is used which emphasizes the
convergence of results across studies and methodologies, and the exploration
of relationships between language and other higher brain functions. As one
approach to reducing the complexity of this topic, the lab has concentrated
upon the processing of single words. Even at this relatively basic level, it
is both intuitively and experimentally clear that distinctions can be drawn
between different types of information, such as how words look (orthographic
knowledge), how words sound (phonological knowledge), and what words mean
(semantic knowledge). Ongoing research projects are directed towards
localizing and characterizing the many brain regions which contribute to
each type of processing. For instance, one area of interest is how a left
frontal opercular region may contribute to some phonological tasks via
high-level articulatory coding.

Another goal of the research is to understand how the results may extend
beyond the domain of language. An advantage of functional imaging studies is
that activity in the brain can be examined without a priori restrictions
upon the regions of interest. This allows connections to be made between
different types of cognitive processes which otherwise might not be
apparent. For example, neuroimaging studies in normals and behavioral
studies in brain-damaged patients have provided evidence that the cerebellum
(traditionally considered to be a purely motor structure) is involved in the
performance and learning of a variety of nonmotor tasks, including certain
types of language tasks.

Members of the lab will have the opportunity to draw upon literature from
multiple disciplines (e.g., psychology, neuroscience, computer science) when
designing and interpreting experiments. Specific research projects may
involve several different methodologies, including neuroimaging (PET and
fMRI), lesion-behavior analysis, and the behavioral investigation of normal
subjects. Finally, interactions and collaborations within the larger
cognitive neuroscience community are encouraged.

Recent Publlications:

Fiez JA, ME Raichle, MK Cheney, and SE Petersen (1992). Impaired learning
and error detection following cerebellar damage: a single-case study. Brain,
115:155-178.

Raichle ME, JA Fiez, TO Videen, PT Fox, JV Pardo, AK MacLeod, and SE
Petersen (1994). Practice-related changes in human brain functional anatomy
during non-motor learning. Cerebral Cortex, 4:8-26.

Fiez JA, P Tallal, ME Raichle, WF Katz, FM Miezin, and SE Petersen (1995).
PET studies of auditory and phonological processing: Effects of stimulus
type and task condition. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 7:357-375.

Fiez JA, EA Raife, DA Balota, ME Raichle, and SE Petersen (1996). A PET
study of verbal working memory. Journal of Neuroscience, 16:808- 822.

Fiez JA and D Tranel (1996). A standardized set of 280 stimuli depicting
actions and events: Measures of name agreement, familiarity, visual
complexity, image agreement, and conceptual knowledge. Memory and Cognition,
in press.