Welcome!
I am a PhD Candidate in Cognitive Neuroscience at Bangor University, UK. I investigate how our brains turn sound vibrations into words and more precisely, the computations that drive the mappings from ideas into sounds.
The Cognitive Science of Language
I am interested in how human brains and artificial neural networks are able to produce and understand language. I am currently investigating which cognitive processes are involved in the production of human speech, using a combination of behavioural, computational and electrophysiological methodologies to address the nature of lexical selection in word production.
Bio
In 2015 I received a Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece., where I worked as an undergraduate researcher in the department's Language Development Laboratory under the supervision of Professor Ianthi Maria Tsimpli. Being a member of the EXCELLENCE I Research Programme: “Individual Differences in Anaphora Resolution: Linguistic and Cognitive Effects (IDAR)” I investigated the way adult Greek learners of English (L2) process syntactic ambiguities (the popular "garden path effect" in psycholinguistics), using a combination of behavioural, cognitive and eye tracking methodologies.
In 2016 I got a Master of Science from the University of Edinburgh in Psychology of Language working along Dr Andrea Martin and Dr Leonidas Doumas. I simulated an artificial neural network called DORA (Discovery Of Relations by Analogy) with semantic ambiguities and found that it can process unstructured linguistic input similar to human brains.
As of October 2016, I am a fully-funded PhD Candidate in Cognitive Science at Bangor University working along Dr Gary Oppenheim and Professor Guillaume Thierry in the Langauge Production Laboratory. I have presented part of my work at the 23rd and 24th AMLaP, the 10th International Workshop on Language Production, the Cognitive Neuroscience of Second and Artificial Language Learning (CoNSALL 2018) and at an invited talk at The University of Manchester. In addition, I am a Scientific Writing and Communication I & II (2016/2017- 2017/2018) Graduate Instructor and a Teaching Assistant in Psychology of Language (Winter/Spring 2018).
Research Interests:
Cognitive Neuroscience of Language, Artificial Neural Networks, Artificial Intelligence, Computational Models of Higher Cognition, Language Processing, Language Production, Lexical Selection, Lexical Processing, Syntactic Ambiguities, Machine Learning, Decision-making, Robotics.
Contact:e.balatsou@bangor.ac.uk