The neural and cognitive mechanisms that support language. The role of the right hemisphere in language comprehension. Age-related changes in language.

Language is a ubiquitous aspect of human life. Much remains to be learned about the neural infrastructure that supports this complex social and cognitive function. My research has focused on understanding the neural infrastructure of various aspects of receptive and productive language. Most recently I have been interested in how novelty and figurativeness influence recruitment of the right hemisphere. I have also been examining age-related changes in language. Specifically, this research project looks at neural factors that contribute to age-related retention (semantics) and decline (phonology) that have been observed in language. We are investigating the relations between structural factors (i.e., white matter integrity), functional activations, and behavior.

Previously, I have used electrophysiology to examine how semantic and phonological processes interact during spoken language comprehension. Using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), I have investigated the neural substrates of orthographic, lexical, and semantic aspects of visual word processing, and the influence of conscious perception on the engagement of brain regions that support these processes. Finally, my involvement with the Biomedical Informatics Research Network (BIRN) project has allowed me to explore technical issues related to multi-site imaging, such as quality assurance measures and reliability.

1. Diaz, M.T. & Hogstrom, L.J. (In Press). The Influence of Context on Hemispheric Recruitment during Metaphor Processing. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. PMID: 21568642 NIHMSID: 300129

 

2. Diaz, M.T., He, G., Gadde, S., Bellion, C., Belger, A., Voyvodic, J.T., & McCarthy, G. (In Press). Brain Activity Elicited by Emotional Stimuli During a Verbal Working Memory Task: A Comparison of Schizophrenic and Healthy Adults. Journal of Psychiatric Research. PMID: 21411108 NIHMS: NIHMS276896

 

3. Diaz, M.T., Barrett, K.T., & Hogstrom, L.J. (2011). The influence of sentence novelty and figurativeness on brain activity. Neuropsychologia, 49 (3), 320-330.PMCID: PMC3034783 [Available on 2012/2/1]

 

4. Greve, D.N., Mueller, B.A., Liu, T., Turner, J.A., Potkin, S.G., Voyvodic, J.T., Diaz, M.T., Wallace, S., Yelter, E., Roach, B.J., Ford, J.M., Mathalon, D.H., Wible, C.G., & Glover, G. (2011). A novel method for quantifying scanner instability in fMRI. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. Magn Reson Med, 65(4), 1053-61. PMID: 21121002 NIHMS: NIHMS240496

 

5. Brown, G.G., Mathalon, D., Stern, H., Ford, J., Mueller, B., Greve, D., McCarthy, G., Voyvodic J., Glover, G., Diaz, M.T., Yetter, E., Ozyurt, B., Jorgensen, K.W., Wible, C., Turner, J., Thompson, W.K., Potkin, S., and the  FBIRN. (2011). Multisite Reliability of Cognitive BOLD Data. Neuroimage, 54(3),2163-75. PMCID: PMC3009557 [Available on 2012/2/1].

 

6. Wible, C.G., Lee, K., Molina, I., Hashimoto, R., Preus, A.P., Roach, B.J., Ford, J.M., Mathalon, D.H., McCarthy, G., Turner, J.A., Potkin, S.G., O'Leary, D., Belger, A., Diaz, M., Voyvodic, J., Brown, G.G., Notestine, R., Greve, D., Lauriello, J., FBIRN (2009). FMRI Activity Correlated with Auditory Hallucinations During Performance of a Working Memory Task:  Data from the FBIRN Consortium Study. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 35, 1, 47-57. PMCID: PMC2643958.

 

7. Segall, J.M., Turner, J.A., van Erp, T.G.M., White, T., Bockholt, H.J., Gollub, R.L., Ho, B.C., Magnotta, V., Jung, R.E., McCarley, R.W., Schulz, S.C., Lauriello, J., Clark, V.P., Voyvodic, J.T., Diaz, M.T., Calhoun, V.D. (2009) Voxel-based Morphometric Multi-site Collaborative Study on Schizophrenia Schizophrenia Bulletin, 35, 1, 82-95. PMCID: PMC2643956.

 

8. Potkin, S. G., Turner, J. A., Brown, G. G., McCarthy, G., Greve, D. N., Glover, G. H., Manoach, D. S, Belger, A, Diaz, M.T., Wible, C. G, Ford, J. M, Mathalon, D. H, Gollub, R, Lauriello, J, O'Leary, D, van Erp, T. G. M, Toga, A. W, Preda, A, and Lim, K. O. (2009). Working memory and DLPFC inefficiency in schizophrenia: The FBIRN study. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 35(1), 19-31. PMCID: PMC2643959.

 

9. Diaz, M.T., He, G., Gadde, S., Bellion, C., Belger, A., Voyvodic, J.T., and McCarthy, G. (2009). Brain Activity Elicited by Emotional Stimuli During a Verbal Working Memory Task: A Comparison of Healthy Adults and Patients with Chronic Schizophrenia, NeuroImage, 47, S166.

 

10. Diaz, M.T. & McCarthy, G. (2009). A comparison of brain activity evoked by single content and function words: An fMRI investigation of implicit word processing. Brain Research, 1282, 38-49. PMCID: PMC2755079.

 

11. Diaz, M.T. & Swaab, T.Y. (2007). Electrophysiological differentiation of phonological and semantic integration in word and sentence contexts, Cognitive Brain Research, 1146, 85-100. PMCID: PMC1853329.

 

12. Schwartz, A.I, Kroll, J.F., & Diaz, M.T. (2007). Reading words in Spanish and English: Mapping orthography to phonology in two languages, Language and Cognitive Processes, 22:1, 106 - 129.

 

13. Diaz, M.T. & McCarthy, G. (2007). Unconscious word processing engages a distributed network of brain regions. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 19(11), 1768-1775. PMID: 17958480.

 

14. Robertson, B., Wang, L., Diaz, M.T., Aiello, M., Gersing, K., Beyer, J., Mukundan, S., McCarthy, G., & Doraiswamy, P.M. (2007). Effect of Bupropion XL on Negative Emotion Processing in Major Depression: A Pilot Functional MRI Study, The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 68(2), 261-267. PMID: 17335325

 

PAPERS IN PREPARATION

 

1. Diaz, M.T. & Hogstrom, L.J. (In Preparation). Non-verbal reasoning correlates with functional activation to metaphors.

 

2. Hogstrom, L.J., Voyvodic, J.T., & Diaz, M.T. (In Preparation). Neural correlates of interference and facilitation in picture naming.

 

3. Diaz, M.T., Winkler, T., & Swaab, T.Y. (In Preparation). Electrophysiological investigation of sentential semantic ambiguity effects in older and younger adults.

 

4. Diaz, M.T. & Swaab, T.Y. (In Preparation). Age-related changes in phonological and semantic integration in word and sentence contexts.