EntreviSta: Michael Ullman

Resumo

In this issue of EntreviSta, we interview Dr. Michael Ullman, who received his BA in Computer Science from Harvard University (1988) and his PhD in Brain and Cognitive Sciences from MIT (1993). His main area of research is the relationship between language, memory, and the brain. Ullman is a Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at Georgetown University, and holds secondary appointments in the Departments of Neurology, Psychology and Linguistics. He is the director of the Brain and Language Lab, which investigates the neural and psychological bases of both first and second language, as well as the neurocognition of group and individual differences in language and memory (e.g., sex differences, handedness, and genetic variability). He and his colleagues use both behavioral and neuroimaging techniques (mainly EEG/ERPs and fMRI). His lab also works with developmental disorders (including developmental language and reading impairments, autism, Tourette syndrome, and ADHD) and acquired brain disorders (including aphasia, amnesia, and Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases). Together with Ingrid Finger (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil), Kara Morgan-Short (University of Illinois at Chicago, USA) and Sarah Grey (Georgetown University), Ullman is the author of a recently published ground-breaking article, entitled Second language processing shows increased native-like neural responses after months of no exposure, which was widely featured in the press, including in the New York Times. A squib of this article has been included in this issue of Revista LinguiStica.