Principal Investigator
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Emily Myers, Professor, Lab PIDepartment of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences I’m interested in the processes that allow a listener to map the speech signal to meaning, how these processes are instantiated in the brain, and how these processes break down in cases of language disorder. I received my Ph.D. in Cognitive Science from Brown University in 2005. My primary appointment is in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, with a joint appointment in Psychological Sciences. I also serve as co-director (with Inge-Marie Eigsti) of the NIH-funded T32 training program, CNC-CT, which supports predoctoral and postdoctoral scholars studying the cognitive neuroscience of communication. My current CV. See Research and Publications page for downloads/pdfs. Office: Phillips Communication Sciences Building 216 Contact: emily.myers@uconn.edu |
Senior Lab Members
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Holly Zaharchuk is a postdoctoral researcher in the LAB Lab. In this role, she studies what makes someone a good listener. More specifically, she uses neural and behavioral methods to study how right and left temporal brain regions contribute to speech perception, with the goal of understanding how therapeutic interventions might recruit these areas in the successful remediation of stroke. Overall, she is interested in learning how the perceptual system adapts to variation and change. Before coming to UConn, Holly completed her Ph.D. and M.S. in Psychology and Language Science with Dr. Janet van Hell in the Bilingualism and Linguistic Diversity Lab at Penn State, where she studied accented speech processing. She received her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Chicago. In between, she worked as a financial analyst at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in Washington, DC, where she worked on language access and fair lending initiatives. |
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Hannah Mechtenberg is a Ph.D. student in Psychology. Her past research interests focused on the role of the basal ganglia during visual category learning. She is currently exploring how ambiguity at multiple levels (e.g., phoneme, word, sentence meaning, talker, etc.) is noticed and dealt with by the brain. She uses a mixture of behavioral, eyetracking (pupillometry), and neural methods paired with naturalistic speech samples to find some answers. She received a B.S. in Neuroscience from Colorado State University in 2017, came to the LAB Lab as a lab manager in 2018, and received her M.S. from UConn in 2022. |
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Naomi Sellers is a Ph.D. student is Psychology who is interested in how input prediction and language error processing offer ways to study the intersection between language production and comprehension, and in how these processes vary across individuals. With a desire for clinical application, she wonders if language errors could give unique insights not only as a bridge between production and comprehension, but also as a bridge between normative and impaired language processing. She received a B.A. in Linguistics and in English from Regis University in 2018. |
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Portia Washington is a Ph.D. student in Psychology who is interested in how both auditory and written language comprehension are affected after individuals experience brain injuries, particularly strokes. She hopes to explore the ongoing role of neuroplasticity during the later stages of post-stroke recovery. As a McNair alum she is passionate about pursuing culturally responsive questions, and serving the greater community through research. She received a B.S. in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2021, where she worked on syntax and bilingual processing. |
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Hannah Olson is the current lab manager. Hannah received her M.S. in Neuroscience from the University of Hartford in 2020 and her B.A. in Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. She previously completed her master’s thesis on accent imitation and voice switching in the LAB Lab. Her research interests include neuropsychological assessment and psychological disorders, and she enjoys working with a variety of clinical populations. |
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Alexa Feder is a research assistant in the Language and Brain Lab and is obtaining her master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology through UConn. She received her B.A. from UConn in December 2023, with a degree in Speech, Language, & Hearing Sciences and a minor in Human Development and Family Sciences. Her related interests include aphasia and cognitive-communication disorders, with additional passion for AAC and working with individuals across the lifespan. Additionally, she has deep interest in advocacy and support groups for various populations in the field. |
Undergraduate Research Assistants
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Serina Spitzer is a senior majoring in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences and minoring in Human Development and Family Sciences. She is interested in the psychological mechanisms that humans use to acquire speech and how brain injuries affect that acquisition. After graduating, Serina plans to attend graduate school and pursue a masters degree in speech-language pathology. |
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Brianna Rodriguez is a senior Cognitive Science major with a minor in Psychology. She is interested in neurotechnology, human cognition, and how the brain processes language. After graduation, she plans on attending graduate school for cognitive science and continuing research. |
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Katelyn Abel is a senior majoring in Molecular and Cell Biology with a minor in Neuroscience. She is interested in aphasia and how the brain works to produce speech. After graduating, Katelyn plans on attending dental school. |
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Katie Myjak is a senior majoring in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences program and is minoring in Human Development and Family Sciences. She is interested in learning more about what mechanisms help individuals that have Aphasia or Apraxia with their pronunciation, comprehension , and overall ability to communicate. Katie is also planning on going to graduate school and pursuing her master’s degree in Speech Language Pathology. |
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Mikayla Robinson is a senior majoring in cognitive science. She is interested in all aspects of the brain, with a focus on human cognition, the impacts of brain injuries and disorders, and brain imaging techniques. Mikayla also hopes to learn more about how language works within the brain. After graduation, she plans to attend medical school to pursue a career as a neurologist. |
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Abaigeal Harding is a senior in the Honors Program, majoring in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences and minoring in Linguistics and Spanish. She is interested in the processes of language comprehension and production, specifically regarding neurological communication disorders including aphasia and apraxia. After graduation, she plans to attend graduate school for speech-language pathology. |
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Emma Cleary is a senior majoring in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences and minoring in Linguistics and Psychological Sciences. She is interested in how the brain processes language, and how brain injuries affect people’s expressive and receptive communication abilities. She is also an undergraduate research assistant in the Aphasia Rehab Lab, where she focuses on optimizing aphasia treatment. After graduation, she plans to attend graduate school for her Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology.
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