Isel Frédéric - MC

Frederic_Isel Ombre

Maître de Conférence
Université ParisDescartes, Institut de Psychologie
Equipe : Mémoire et Langage
email : Frederic.isel@parisdescartes.fr
Tel. 01 55 20 59 24

Current position

Associate Professor for Psycholinguistics, University Paris Descartes, France
Associate Senior Research Fellow, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, Hamburg, Germany

Research Topics

Functional neuroanatomy of language processing

The focus of my research is on the study of language comprehension from a neurobiological perspective. Combining neuroimaging, neurophysiological and behavioural techniques, I investigate the neural basis of language use and language representation in the mature brain.

Critically, I aim to understand how our minds and brains process language, how language interacts with other aspects of mind, and how language diversity can be mastered by our minds ?

Research facilities at the Institute of Psychology - Paris Descartes University - include a 128 channel EEG lab, Eye Tracking labs, a Virtual Reality lab, and several behavioural labs. We also have access to a whole-head 151 channel MEG system, and a MRI-scanner at 3 Tesla.

Two main research projects

1 - The brain and language

I investigate the time course and neural underpinnings of the interaction between linguistic prosody and lexical morphology during the processing of spoken compound words and phrasal verbs in different languages (i.e. Mandarin Chinese, English, French, German). Moreover, I focus on the neurodynamics of the interaction between prosodic and syntactic processes during parsing of ambiguous sentences that can admit alternative syntactic analyses.

2 -The brain and second languages diversity

Using bilingualism as a model, I study the degree of automaticity of second language (L2) processing. Critically, I investigate the transfer of grammatical knowledge from the first language (L1) to L2 and from L2 to L1 (i.e. attrition) depending on multiple linguistic factors (i.e. age of acquisition of L2, proficency level in L2, level of L2 exposure, language typology) as well as individual factors (i.e. motivation, emotion, attention). Moreover, I explore the relationship between bilingualism and central executive functions.

TEMPORAL DYNAMICS

ERP, neuronal synchronisation (time-frequency analysis)

Education

1985–1988 : Pierre and Marie Curie University – University Medical Center Lariboisières-Saint-Louis, Paris, France : Study of Medicine
1989–1997 : Paris Descartes University, France : Study of Psychology
1991–1993 : Pierre and Marie Curie University, Paris, France : Study of Human Physiology
1994 : Paris Descartes University, France : M.A. (Psychology of Cognitive Processes)
1997 : Paris Descartes University, France : Ph.D. in Psychology
2009 : Paris Descartes University, France : Habilitation in Psychology (in progress)

Career

1994–1997 : Research Assistant, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Laboratoire de Psychologie Experimentale, Paris, France (Director : Dr. Juan Segui)
1998–2001 : Visiting Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences Leipzig, Germany (Director : Prof. Dr. Angela D. Friederici)
2002–2005 : Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences Leipzig, Germany (Director : Prof. Dr. Angela D. Friederici)
2005–2008 : Senior Research Fellow, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany (Director : Prof. Dr. med. Christian Büchel) & Research Centre on Multilingualism–SFB 538 (Director : Prof. Dr. Jürgen M. Meisel)
2008–2009 : Senior Research Fellow, Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany (Director : Prof. Dr. med. Andreas K. Engel)
Since 2009 : Associate Professor for Psycholinguistics, University Paris Descartes, France

Grants

2009 : Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowships for Career Development (submitted)
2008 : University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany
2008 : German Research Foundation : SFB 471
2005 : German Research Foundation : SFB 538
2002 : German Research Foundation : DFG IS 76/1–1-2
2001 : University of Leipzig, Germany
1999 : Max Planck Society, Germany
1998 : Fyssen Foundation, France
1997 : French Ministry of Foreign Affairs : Bourse Lavoisier
1994 : French Ministry of Research and Education _

Memberships in Editorial Boards

Review Editor for "Frontiers in Language Sciences"
Editorial Board of "Journal of Neurolinguistics"
Editorial Board of "Brain Sciences"

Reviewer for the following journals

Bilingualism : Language and Cognition
Brain and Cognition
Brain and Language
Brain Research
Human Brain Mapping
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
Journal of Experimental Psychology : Learning, Memory, and Cognition
Journal of Memory and Language
Journal of Neurolinguistics
NeuroImage
NeuroReport

Memberships in Editorial Boards

Review Editor for “Frontiers in Language Sciences”
Editorial Board of “Journal of Neurolinguistics”

Selected Publications

Gan, G., Büchel, C., & Isel, F. (in press). Effect of language task demands on neuronal response during visual word recognition : A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) priming-study.
Isel, F., Baumgärtner, A., Thraen, J., Meisel, J. M., & Buechel, C. (2010). Neural circuitry of the bilingual mental lexicon : Effect of age of second language acquisition. Brain and Cognition, 72, 169-180.
Isel, F., Baumgaertner, A., Thrän, J., Meisel, J. M., & Büchel, C. (in press). Neural circuitry of the bilingual mental lexicon : Effect of age of second language acquisition.
Miertsch, B., Meisel, J. M., & Isel, F. (2009). Non-treated languages in aphasia-therapy of polyglots benefit from improvement in the treated language. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 22, 135-150.
Isel, F. (2007). Syntactic and referential processes in second-language learners : Event-related brain potential evidence. Neuroreport, 18, 1885-1889.
Isel, F., Hahne, A., Maess, B., & Friederici, A. D. (2007). Neurodynamics of sentence interpretation : ERP evidence from French. Biological Psychology, 74, 337-346.
Isel, F. (2005). Special issue in honour of Elizabeth Bates. First- and second-language processing : Cross-linguistic neurophysiological evidence. In : Editions Modulaires Européennes, Langage et l’Homme, Cortil-Wodon, Belgium, pp. 79-95.
Isel, F., Alter, K., & Friederici, A. D. (2005). Influence of prosodic information on the processing of split particles : ERP evidence from spoken German. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 17, 1-14.
Isel, F., Gunter, T. C., & Friederici, A. D. (2003). Prosody-assisted head-driven access to spoken German compounds. Journal of Experimental Psychology : Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 29, 277-288.
Isel, F. (2001). How do we account for the absence of “change deafness” ? Behavioural and Brain Sciences, 24, 988.

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Date de modification : 2010-06-22 16:07:30

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