Within the Marie Curie 'Research Training Network: Language and Brain' [RTN:LAB] I used Magnetoenchephalography (MEG) to investigate the spatiotemporal evolution of cortical activity during the processing of words presented left or right from a central fixation, developing new methods for the acquisition and analysis of neuromagnetic signals (e.g., beamforming and virtual electrodes). Results highlight the role, within the left hemisphere, of top-down influences from motor-articulatory regions to visual-recognition areas.
I have explored the impact of auditory deprivation on word recognition, using coregistration of functional MRI signal and Electroencephalography (WoRHD project, funded within the Marie Curie Reintegration Grant schema).
Publications on this topic:
- Barca, L., Napolitano, A., Castrataro, M., Rinaldi, P., Cannatà, V., Caselli, M.C. (2019). ‘Neural correlates of covert word reading in hearing and deaf adults’. In Sulpizio, S., Barca, L., Primativo, S., Arduino, L.S., (Eds.), Word recognition, morphology and lexical reading. College Publication.
- Barca, L., Pezzulo, G. (2017). The influence of communication mode on written language processing and beyond. Behavioral and Brain Sciences Commentary Invitation. 40. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X15002824
- Napolitano, A., Andellini, M., Cannatà, V., Randisi, F., Bernardi, B., Castrataro, M., Pezzulo, G., Rinaldi, P., Caselli, M. C. , Barca, L. (2014). Analysis of Group ICA functional connectivity of task-driven fMRI: application to language processes in adults with auditory deprivation. Poster at the Joint Annual Meeting ISMRM-ESMRMB 2014. Milan, Italy
- Urooj, U., Cornelissen, P., Simpson, M., Wheat, K.L., Woods, W., Barca, L., Ellis, A.W. (2014). Interactions between visual and semantic processing during object recognition revealed by modulatory effects of age of acquisition. Neuroimage, 87, 252-264
- Barca, L., Cornelissen, P., Simpson, M., Urooj, U., Woods, W., Ellis, A.W. (2011). The neural basis of the right visual field advantage in reading: An MEG analysis using virtual electrodes. Brain & Language, 118, 53–71.