prof. dr. A.P.A. Roelofs (Ardi)
Principal Investigator - Donders Centre for Cognition
Principal Investigator - Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour
Hoogleraar - Psycholinguïstiek
Thomas van Aquinostraat 4
6525 GD NIJMEGEN
Postbus 9104
6500 HE NIJMEGEN
Language interacts with other mental abilities, including perception, movement, memory, thought, and attention. My lab seeks to understand the neurocognitive mechanisms of language and its relation to these other abilities, in particular, attention. We study this in healthy (bilingual) adults as well as in typically developing children and children with language impairment, and in (bilingual) adults with aphasia due to stroke or neurodegenerative disease. Our goal is not only to contribute to a better understanding of the neurocognitive mechanisms of language and its relation to other cognitive abilities, but also to help improve the diagnosis and treatment of language deficits (e.g., our screening test SYDBAT-NL and therapy app SIMPTELL for aphasia).
We have adopted a multi-method research approach that includes measurements of response time and accuracy, eye tracking, electrophysiological (EEG, MEG) and hemodynamic (fMRI) neuroimaging, tractography, imaging genetics, and computational modeling. Our research is driven by, and aims to further develop, the WEAVER++ computational model of attention and language performance and its neurocognitive extension WEAVER++/ARC, which synthesizes behavioral psycholinguistic, functional neuroimaging, tractography, and aphasiological evidence. Locally, we collaborate with the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Royal Dutch Kentalis, the Radboudumc Alzheimer Centre, and the Sint Maartenskliniek.
A central topic of our work is word finding (in first and second languages), also called word retrieval, lexical access, or word planning. Word-finding difficulties occasionally occur in all speakers and frequently in all types of aphasia and developmental language disorder. Word finding and its difficulties may be assessed by measuring the speed and accuracy of picture naming, and deficits can be remediated by training. WEAVER++/ARC addresses the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying treatment and improvement.