Cognitive, Social, and Computational Neuroscience of Aging
The overarching goal of our research is to understand how the mind and brain change and adapt as we age. We are particularly interested in the effects of biological aging (changes in neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, neurocognitive functions, and behavior) and environmental experiences (multilingualism, literacy, cognitive training, environmental enrichment, social engagement, and cultural exposure) on neurocognitive processes and social behavior, as well as how these two factors interact with each other at the neural level over the human lifespan. As is typical of the cognitive neuroscience approach, our research involves the integration of data from different domains, including behavioral responses, neuropsychological assessment, and several advanced neuroimaging techniques such as EEG, ERPs, MRI, fMRI, DTI, and MEG.
Diagnosis and Prevention of Aging-Associated Diseases and Psychiatry
Aging-associated neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment) and patients with geriatric depression are the most common neurological and psychiatric disorders in the growing geriatric population and have been identified to be associated with cognitive, affective, and somatic abnormalities in individuals age 60 and older. My research has examined the impacts of mild cognitive impairment, perceived social isolation and late-life depression on neurocognitive function and brain connectivity in middle-aged and older adults during affective processing, executive control, and decision making by using fMRI and DTI techniques. I am interested in isolating neural signatures of middle-aged and older adults who will age with vitality versus those who are at greater risk of less adaptive cognitive aging (e.g., dementia) and develop effective cognitive/physical training protocol (e.g., Tai Chi-style multi-component exercise and Mindfulness) to enhance the quality of life for the achievement of “successful aging”.
Intercultural Relations and Cross-Cultural Neuroscience
Individual undergoes different life experience such as culturally different social environments and cognitive environments that emphasize dissociable ways of processing information. Prior research in social psychology indicates that East Asians
from collectivistic and interdependent socio-cultual system are more sensitive to contextual information, whereas Westerners with individualistic and independent representations have a tendency to process focal and discrete attributes of the environment. The series of studies conducted in our lab has shown that cultural experience affects individual’s cognitive functions (e.g., visual perception, attention, and memory), social behaviors and neural function.
from collectivistic and interdependent socio-cultual system are more sensitive to contextual information, whereas Westerners with individualistic and independent representations have a tendency to process focal and discrete attributes of the environment. The series of studies conducted in our lab has shown that cultural experience affects individual’s cognitive functions (e.g., visual perception, attention, and memory), social behaviors and neural function.
Neurobiological Basis of Language
To successfully comprehend language, perceptual events experienced through different modalities must be rapidly analyzed, retrieved, combined and integrated with long-term memory. Remarkably, the human brain has the ability to accomplish such complex processes rapidly and effortlessly over time. The aim of our research is to examine neurocognitive changes of language ability (comprehension, production, and reading) in order to understand what factors characterize and promote effective language processing, including: (1) the semantic organization in the human brain , (2) cerebral lateralization of language processing, and (3) neurocognitive changes of sentence comprehension across the entire adult lifespan.
Collaborators
Taiwan
Professor Ovid, J.L. Tzeng (曾志朗院士) Institute of Linguistics Academia Sinica Professor Chin-Po Lin (林慶波教授) Institute of Neuroscience National Yang-Ming University Professor Yu-Kai Chang (張育愷教授) Department of Physical Education National Taiwan Normal University Professor Jin-Jong Chen (陳俊忠教授) Department of Physical Therapy & Assistive Technology National Yang-Ming University Professor Erik C. Chang (張智宏教授) Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience National Central University Dr. Shwu-Hua Lee (李淑花醫師) Department of Psychiatry Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital Dr. Chemin Lin (林哲名醫師) Department of Psychiatry Keelung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital Professor Changwei Wu (吳昌衛教授) College of Humanities and Social Sciences Taipei Medical University Professor Yi-Ping Chao (趙一平教授) Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering Chang Gung University, Taiwan Professor Shun-Chi Wu (吳順吉教授) Department of Engineering and System Science National Tsing Hua University Professor Chien-Te Wu (吳建德教授) School of Occupational Therapy, Medical College, National Taiwan University Professor Li-Hung Chang (張立鴻教授) Education Center for Humanities and Social Sciences National Yang-Ming University Professor Chih-Fei Kao (高智飛教授) Department of Biological Science and Technology National Chiao Tung University Dr. Yang-Teng Fan (范揚騰研究員) Center for Bioinformatics Researh National Chiao Tung University |
USA
Ho-Ling Anthony Liu, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Imaging Physics, Division of Diagnostic Imaging, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX Kara D. Federmeier, Ph.D. Emanuel Donchin Professorial Scholar, Department of Psychology, Program in Neuroscience, and Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL Angela Gutchess, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of Psychology Brandeis University Ian M. McDonough, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology Associate, Alabama Research Institute on Aging University of Alabama Eric D. Leshikar, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology University of Illinois at Chicago Hong Kong LEE Tatia Mei-chun Chair Professor Department of Psychology The University of Hong Kong |