CNBC Faculty: Julie Fiez

(This page last updated 15 November 1996.)

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

Home page:

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.