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Lydia Wiernik

wiernik@cbs.mpg.de

I'm a hearing neurolinguist interested in the neurobiology of sign language and how modality influences cognitive organization and processing. More specifically, I'm interested in bimodal bilingualism, the relationships between (sign) language acquisition, embodiment, and cognition, and how d/Deaf communities make meaning using multimodal and semiotic resources. I'm also interested in accessibility in academia and open-access publishing, as well as attenuating the reproduction of negative ideologies about sign language and deafness in neuroscience through disability frameworks.

Education

Research experience

MA (Hons) Linguistics and English Language                 2020 - 2024

University of Edinburgh

First Class Honours

Dissertation: The Influence of Signed Language Acquisition on Cognitive Strategies for Visuospatial Perspective-Taking (Supervisor: Dr. Gabrielle Hodge)

  • ​A conceptual replication of Secora & Emmorey (2019) which investigated a VSPT paradigm on hearing signers (BSL interpreters in the UK) for the first time

  • Scripted experiment from scratch in JavaScript and HTML (code open-access on OSF) and 3D-modeled all stimuli to adapt the 3 Buildings paradigm (Clements-Stephens et al., 2013) to a digital format for the first time

Max Planck Institute for Human                              April 2024 - present

Cognitive and Brain Sciences

Guest Researcher

Supervisors: Patrick Trettenbrein, Drs. Philipp Kuhnke & Sabrina Turker

  • Independently carrying out Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE) analyses and meta-analytic connectivity modeling on pre-existing fMRI and PET studies of sign language production to investigate the neuroanatomy of sign production using GingerALE, Mango and FSL softwares

  • Interpreting findings in the context of both the literature on sign language and the neuroanatomy of language more generally

  • First-authored paper in progress on the sign production meta-analysis

  • Designing and carrying out a second ALE meta-analysis on syntax in the brain using the database created by Turker et al. (2023)

  • Assisting with Ying Jing’s TMS study on the motor cortex, including managing software, recording data, calibrating the coil, defining ROIs, and stimulating the brain

Skills

University College London, Institute                    April 2024 - present

of Cognitive Neuroscience & Deafness, 

Cognition, and Language Research Centre (DCAL)

Research Assistant 

Supervisor: Dr. Mairéad MacSweeney 

  • Scoring data from 25+ oral deaf children

  • Ensuring accuracy in the reporting of the children’s English reading and speech production skill

Natural languages

English

French

Korean

ASL

BSL

German

Native

Fluent

Intermediate

Intermediate

Intermediate

Beginner

Other skills

Intermediate

Beginner

Proficient

Proficient

Proficient

Intermediate

EEG

TMS

​LaTeX

Praat

GingerALE

ELAN

Programming languages

R

JavaScript

MATLAB

Python

Proficient

Proficient

Proficient

Intermediate

University of the West of England,                          Aug. 2023 - present

Brain, Language, and Behaviour Laboratory

Honorary Research Associate 

Supervisor: Dr. Anna Piasecki

  • Designing and creating improved stimuli for intraoperative language testing

  • Collecting, processing, and analyzing data using Qualtrics, Excel, R, and Praat

  • Co-authored a published paper on the first instance of intraoperative language testing in a hearing bimodal bilingual

  • Authored a blog post on signed languages that complemented our publication

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