Language and Memory Control

Language and Memory Control

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Cognitive neuroscientists, engineers and mathematicians work together in the Language and Memory Control group to unravel the neural basis of high cognitive functions using an array of behavioral, functional (task-related, resting-state) and structural (volumetric, diffusion MRI, quantitative MRI) MRI techniques and a range of analytical approaches.

We investigate how high cognitive functions result from interactions between different cognitive components, focusing mostly on language (reading, speech comprehension and production) and memory (semantic, autobiographical, episodic) systems across the life span in both cognitively normal and clinical populations.

Our current research program includes studies on thalamocortical contributions to language systems, differential involvement of visual pathways in word processing, brain plasticity associated with language learning and cognitive training, executive attention, episodic memory retrieval, creativity, and advanced MRI methods.

Publications

In press

Kosteletou-Kassotaki, E.*, Mengxing, L.*, Cinca-Tomás, M.T., Paz-Alonso, P.M.†, & Dominguez-Borras, J.† (In press). Mapping the subcortical pathways associated with fear in the human brain: multiple thalamo-amygdala connections revealed by high-resolution tractography. NeuroImage. *Equal contribution †Joint supervision.
Mengxing, L., Wang, S., Vidaurre, C., Guediche, S., Lerma-Usabiaga, G., & Paz-Alonso, P.M. (In press). Language comprehension functionally modulates first-order relay thalamic nuclei. eLife. Doi:https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.109448.1
Quiñones, I., Carrión-Castillo, A., Diez-Zabala, I., de Frutos-Sagastuy, L., Costello, B., Carcedo, D., Manso-Ortega, L., Slivka, M., Sánchez, A., Schüller, A., Caballero-Gaudes, C., Paz-Alonso, P.M., & Carreiras, M. (In press). Unraveling the Complexity of Multilingual Comprehension: Neuroimaging and Linguistic Profiling in 700+ Adults. Scientific Data.

2026

Baena, D., Legault, G., Ray, L.B., Lopez, J., Hoffmann, R., Robillard, R., Armitage, R., & Fogel, S.M. (2026). REM sleep microarchitecture in adolescent major depressive disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders, 406. Doi:10.1016/j.jad.2026.121714

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