Mark S. Seidenberg

Research Area(s)
Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience

Lab Website
Language and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab

Research interest
My research is concerned with basic questions about the nature of language and how it is acquired, used, and represented in the brain. It has two complementary parts. One part concerns reading, a particular use of language. My main interest is in how reading skill is acquired by children, and the causes of dyslexia (reading impairments). I am also commited to exploring how the science of reading can contribute to improved educational performance; as part of that effort I am studying the persistently low reading achievement of minority children, many of whom are from low-income backgrounds. In practice my reading research involves behavioral and neuroimaging studies of children and adults, and the development of computational (“neural network”) models of normal and disordered performance. The second part of my research concerns spoken language, particularly how it is acquired and the mechanisms underlying comprehension. I use the same theoretical principles and methods in studying both reading and language. In both cases we want to understand how the skill is acquired and its brain bases, using computational models as the interface between the two.

Representative Publications
Seidenberg, M.S. & Plaut, D.C. (2014). Quasiregularity and its discontents: The legacy of the past tense debate. Cognitive Science. PDF.

Graves, W.W., Binder, J.R., Desai, R.H., Humphries, C., Stengel., B.C., Seidenberg, M.S. (2014). Anatomy is strategy: Skilled reading differences associated with structural connectivity differences in the reading network. Brain & Language, 133, 1-13. PDF.

Seidenberg, M.S. (2013). The science of reading and its educational implications. Language Learning and Development, 53, 638-646. PDF.

Mano, Q.R., Humphries, C., Desai, R., Seidenberg, M.S., Osmon, D.C., Stengel, B. & Binder, J.R. (2013).  The role of the left occipitotemporal cortext in reading: Reconciling stimulus, task, and lexicality effects. Cerebral Cortex, 23, 988-1001. PDF.

Seidenberg, M. S. (2011). Reading in Different Writing Systems: One Architecture, Multiple Solutions In P. McCardle., J. Ren., & O. Tzeng. (Eds.), Across languages: Orthography and the Gene-Brain-Behavior Link. Paul Brooke Publishing.
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Seidenberg, M. S. (2012). Computational models of reading: Connectionist and dual-route approaches In M. Spivey., K. McRae., & M. Joanisse. (Eds.), Cambridge Handbook of Psycholinguistics (pp. 186-203). Cambridge University Press.
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