Research Spotlight: Dr. Donald J. Bolger

Dr. Donald J. Bolger joined the department in August 2008. He received his Ph. D. in cognitive psychology from the University of Pittsburgh and currently is an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Northwestern University.

Dr. Bolger describes his research as follows: How does the brain learn to read? What are the sources of reading failure? How does experience shape learning? The core of my research focuses on these key issues of reading from neurobiological, cognitive, developmental and educational perspectives. Reading is a complex cognitive skill that requires that complex visual forms (orthography) be recognized accurately and integrated with linguistic information from phonology (sound) and semantics (meaning) with the ultimate purpose of achieving comprehension. The primary goal of my research is to understand brain development with respect to typical and atypical reading and language ability and how impairment and the effects of intervention are reflected in cortex. From school-based and cross-sectional paradigms to adult training tasks, my work combines innovative and complex methodologies in functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and event-related potentials (ERP) with developmental and behavioral research. In a series of studies (Bolger, Hornickle, Cone, Burman & Booth, 2008, Bolger, Minas, Burman, & Booth, 2008), I have explored the neural basis of developing spelling-sound knowledge by testing the effects of consistency in a cross-sectional study of typical and atypical (dyslexic) readers ages 9-15I. My research pursuits are also motivated by pragmatic issues with respect to basic literacy and reading instruction, as well as the diagnosis and treatment of learning disorders and neuropathology. One current project (Bolger, Balass, Landen, & Perfetti, 2008) examines the effects of contexts and definitions in the learning of word meanings (vocabulary acquisition). We are currently investigating the neurophysiology of this acquisition using ERP (Bolger, Yang, Balass, & Perfetti; in prep), and moving toward studying these effects in 4th and 5th grade students. In another project that bridges applied and basic research, we look at the behavioral effects and underlying neural response of component (phonics-based) compared to holistic learning of novel orthographies (Bolger, 2007; in prep). In general, my work bridges across the budding field of developmental cognitive neuroscience and education to tackle issues of reading and language development.

Dr. Bolger already is beginning new research projects and new collaborations now that he is at the University of Maryland.

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