State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University

Faculty

Current Faculty

Yanchao Bi Ph.D.The cognitive neural basis of semantic memory, knowledge representation, and language processing ybi#bnu.edu.cn http://bilab.bnu.edu.cn/

Educational Experience

2006　Ph.D in Psychology, Cognitive Neuropsychology Laboratory
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.

1998　MS in Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China

1995　BS in Psychology, Northeastern Normal University, Changchun, China

Professional Experience

Yanchao Bi is a ChangJiang professor in IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research and the State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, at Beijing Normal University. She received her PhD from the Department of Psychology, Harvard University in 2006. She serves on the editorial board of Journals Elife (Senior Editor), Neurobiology of Language (Senior Editor), Cognition, Cognitive Neuropsychology. She has won various awards, scholarships, or recognitions such as “The National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars” and “The National Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars” by National Science Foundation of China, “New Century Excellent Talents in University” by Ministry of Education of China, Sackler scholar of psychophysiology, Fulbright scholar, and “Rising Star” by American psychological association.

Research Description

Her current work focuses on the study of functional and neural architecture associated with semantic memory, knowledge representation, and language processing, using cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience, multi-modal neuroimaging, computation modeling and other research methods.

Publications

1. Tian, S., Chen, Y., Fu, Z., Wang, X., & Bi, Y. (2023). Simple shape feature computation across modalities: convergence and divergence between the ventral and dorsal visual streams. Cerebral Cortex, bhad200.

2. Wang, X., Wang, B., & Bi, Y. (2023). Early language exposure affects neural mechanisms of semantic representations. eLife, 12, e81681. (eLife digest: https://elifesciences.org/digests/81681/learning-through-language)

3. Seydell-Greenwald, A., Wang, X., Newport, E. L., Bi, Y., Striem-Amit, E. (2023). Spoken language processing activates the primary visual cortex. PLOS ONE, 18(8), e0289671.

4. Xiong, Z., Chen, H., & Bi, Y. (2023). Not clear what properties are found or should be: a commentary on Calzavarini (2023). Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 1-3.

5. Xiong, Z., Tian, Y., Wang, X., Wei, K., & Bi, Y. (2023). Gravity matters for the neural representations of action semantics. Cerebral Cortex, 33(11), 6862-6871.

6. Wen, H., Song, Y., Liang, M., Zhang, P., Wang, X., & Bi, Y. (2023). Pulvinar Response Profiles and Connectivity Patterns to Object Domains. Journal of Neuroscience, 43(5): 812-826.

7. Fu, Z., Wang, X., Wang, X., Yang, H., Wang, J., Wei, T., Liao, X., Liu, Z., Chen, H., & Bi,Y. (2023). Different computational relations in language are captured by distinct brain systems. Cerebral Cortex, 33(4), 997-1013.

8. Wen, H., Xu, T., Wang, X., Yu, X., & Bi, Y. (2022). Brain intrinsic connection patterns underlying tool processing in human adults are present in neonates and not in macaques. NeuroImage, 258, 119339.

9. Sen, S., Khalsa, N. N., Tong, N., Ovadia-Caro, S., Wang, X., Bi, Y., & Striem-Amit, E. (2022). The role of visual experience in individual differences of brain connectivity. Journal of Neuroscience, 42(25), 5070-5084.

10. Yang, H., & Bi, Y. (2022). From words to phrases: neural basis of social event semantic composition. Brain Struct Funct, 227(5), 1683-1695.

11. Bola, Ł., Yang, H., Caramazzza, A., & Bi, Y. (2022). Preference for Animate Domain Sounds in the Fusiform Gyrus of Blind Individuals Is Modulated by Shape–Action Mapping. Cerebral Cortex, 32(21), 4913-4933.

12. Wang, X., Li, G., Zhao, G., Li, Y., Wang, B., Lin, C, Liu, X., & Bi, Y. (2021). Social and emotion dimensional organizations in the abstract semantic space: the neuropsychological evidence. Sci Rep, 11, 23572.

13. Wang, X., & Bi, Y. (2021). Idiosyncratic Tower of Babel: Individual Differences in Word-Meaning Representation Increase as Word Abstractness Increases. Psychological science, 32(10), 1617-1635.

14. Bi, Y. (2021). Dual coding of knowledge in the human brain. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 25(10), 883-895.

15. Fan, S., Wang, X., Wang, X., Wei, T., & Bi, Y. (2021). Visual featural topography in the human ventral visual pathway. Neurosci. Bull, 37(10), 1454-1468.\

16. Bi, Y. Concepts and Object Domains. In: Poeppel, D., Mangun, G. R., & Gazzaniga, M. S. (Eds.) The cognitive neurosciences. MIT Press; 2020.

17. Hung, J., Wang, X., Wang, X., & Bi, Y. (2020). Functional subdivisions in the anterior temporal lobes: a large scale meta-analytic investigation. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 115, 134-145.

18. Wang, X., Men, W., Gao, J., Caramazza, A., & Bi, Y. (2020). Two Forms of Knowledge Representations in the Human Brain. Neuron, 107, 383-393.

19. Yang, H., He, C., Han, Z., & Bi, Y. (2020). Domain-specific functional coupling between dorsal and ventral systems during action perception. Sci Rep, 10, 21200.

20. Wu, W., Wang, X., Wei, T., He, C., & Bi, Y. (2020). Object parsing in the left lateral occipitotemporal cortex: Whole shape, part shape, and graspability. Neuropsychologia, 138, 1-12.

21. Wang, X., Wang, B., & Bi, Y. (2019). Close yet independent: dissociation of social from valence and abstract semantic dimensions in the left anterior temporal lobe. Human Brain Mapping, 40(16), 4759-4776.

22. 王晓莎, & 毕彦超. (2019). 抽象概念语义表征的认知神经基础研究. 生理学报, 71(1), 117-126.

23. Striem-Amit, E., Wang, X., Bi, Y., & Caramazza, A. (2018). Neural representation of visual concepts in people born blind. Nature communications, 9(1), 5250. (Editor Highlights)

24. Wang, X., Zhuang, T., Shen, J., & Bi, Y. (2018). Disentangling representations of shape and action components in the tool network. Neuropsychologia, 117, 119-210.

25. Fang, Y., Wang, X., Zhong, S., Song, L., Han, Z., Gong, G., & Bi, Y. (2018). Semantic representation in the white matter pathway. PLoS biology, 16(4), e2003993. (Primer by Pestilli, F., 2018 pLos Biology)

26. Li, Y., Fang, Y., Wang, X., Song, L., Huang, R., Han, Z., Gong, G., & Bi, Y. (2018). Connectivity of the ventral visual cortex is necessary for object recognition in patients. Human brain mapping, 39(7), 2786-2799.

27. Wang, X., Xu, Y., Wang, Y., Zeng, Y., Zhang, J., Ling, Z., & Bi, Y. (2018). Representational similarity analysis reveals task-dependent semantic influence of the visual word form area. Scientific reports, 8(1), 3047.

28. Xu, Y., Wang, X., Wang, X., Men, W., Gao, J. H., & Bi, Y. (2018). Doctor, Teacher, and Stethoscope: Neural Representation of Different Types of Semantic Relations. Journal of Neuroscience, 38(13), 3303-3317. (Journal Club Commentary by Mills-Finnerty, C., 2018 J Neurosci)

29. Wang, X., Wu, W., Ling, Z., Xu, Y., Fang, Y., Wang, X., Binder, J., Men, W., Gao, J., & Bi, Y. (2018). Organizational Principles of Abstract Words in the Human Brain. Cerebral Cortex, 28(12), 4305-4318.

30. Chen, K., Ding, J., Lin, B., Huang, L., Tang, L., Bi, Y., Han, Z., Lv Y., & Guo Q. (2018). The neuropsychological profiles and semantic-critical regions of right semantic dementia. NeuroImage: Clinical, 19, 767-774.

31. Wang, X., He, C., Peelen, M. V., Zhong, S., Gong, G., Caramazza, A., & Bi, Y. (2017). Domain selectivity in the parahippocampal gyrus is predicted by the same structural connectivity patterns in blind and sighted individuals. Journal of Neuroscience, 37(18), 4705-4716.

32. Yang, H., Lin, Q., Han, Z., Li, H., Song, L., Chen, L., He, Y., & Bi, Y. (2017). Dissociable intrinsic functional networks support noun-object and verb-action processing. Brain and Language, 175, 29-41.

33. Xu, Y., He, Y., & Bi, Y. (2017). A Tri-network Model of Human Semantic Processing. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1538.

34. Yuan, B., Fang, Y., Han, Z., Song, L., He, Y., & Bi, Y. (2017). Brain hubs in lesion models: Predicting functional network topology with lesion patterns in patients. Scientific reports, 7(1), 17908.

35. Cao, M., He, Y., Dai, Z., Liao, X., Jeon, T., Ouyang, M., Chalak, L., Bi, Y., Rollins, N., Dong, Q., Huang, H. (2017). Early Development of Functional Network Segregation Revealed by Connectomic Analysis of the Preterm Human Brain. Cerebral Cortex, 27(3), 1949-1963.

36. Xie, S., Yang, J., Zhang, Z., Zhao, C., Bi, Y., Zhao, Q., Pan, H., Gong, G. (2017). The Effects of the X Chromosome on Intrinsic Functional Connectivity in the Human Brain: Evidence from Turner Syndrome Patients. Cerebral Cortex, 27(1), 474-484.

37. Liu, J., Xia, M., Dai, Z., Wang, X., Liao, X., & Bi, Y., et al. (2017). Intrinsic brain hub connectivity underlies individual differences in spatial working memory. Cerebral Cortex, 27, 5496-5508.

38. Bi, Y., Wang, X., Caramazza, A. (2016). Object domain and modality in the ventral visual pathway. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 20(4), 282-290.

39. Xu, Y., Lin, Q., Han, Z., He, Y., Bi, Y. (2016). Intrinsic Functional Network Architecture of Human Semantic Processing: Modules and Hubs. NeuroImage, 132, 542-555.

40. Wang, X., Fang, Y., Cui, Z., Xu, Y., He, Y., Guo, Q., & Bi, Y. (2016). Representing object categories by connections: Evidence from a mutivariate connectivity pattern classification approach. Human brain mapping, 37(10), 3685-3697.

41. Striem-Amit, E., Almeida, J., Belledonne, M., Chen, Q., Fang, Y., Han, Z., Caramazza, A., & Bi, Y. (2016). Topographical functional connectivity patterns exist in the congenitally, prelingually deaf. Scientific Reports, 6, 29375. (Reported by Eurekalert! & AAAS science update podcast)

42. Wang, X., Peelen, M. V., Han, Z., Caramazza, A., & Bi, Y. (2016). The role of vision in the neural representation of unique entities. Neuropsychologia, 87, 144-156.

43. Fang, Y., Chen, Q., Lingnau, A., Han, Z., Bi, Y. (2016). Areas recruited during action understanding are not modulated by auditory or sign language experience. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 10, 94.

44. Bi, Y. (2016). Nominal classification is not positive evidence for language relativity: a commentary on Kemmerer. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 32(4), 428-432.

45. Qian, Y., Bi, Y., Wang, X., Zhang, Y. W., & Bi, H. Y. (2016). Visual dorsal stream is associated with Chinese reading skills: A resting-state fMRI study. Brain and Language, 160, 42-49.

46. Zhou, W., Wang, X., Xia, Z., Bi, Y., Li, P., & Shu, H. (2016). Neural mechanisms of dorsal and ventral visual regions during text reading. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1399.

47. Ding, J., Chen, K., Chen, Y., Fang, Y., Yang, Q., Lv, Y., Lin, N., Bi, Y., Guo, Q., & Han, Z. (2016). The Left Fusiform Gyrus is a Critical Region Contributing to the Core Behavioral Profile of Semantic Dementia. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 10, 215.

48. Xia, M., Lin, Q., Bi, Y., He, Y. (2016). Connectomic insights into topologically centralized network edges and relevant motifs in the human brain. Front Hum Neurosci, 10, 158.

49. Han, Z., Ma, Y., Gong, G., Huang, R., Song, L., Bi, Y. (2016). White matter pathway supporting phonological encoding in speech production: a multi-modal imaging study of brain damage patients. Brain Structure and Function, 221(1), 577-589.

50. Chen, Y., Wang, C., Liang, H., Chen, H., Bi, Y., & Sun, H., et al. (2016). Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging in patients with leukoaraiosis-associated subcortical vascular cognitive impairment: a cross-sectional study. Neurological Research, 38(6), 510-517.

51. Wang, X., Caramazza, A., Han, Z., Bi, Y. (2015). Reading without speech sounds: VWFA and its connectivity in the congenitally deaf. Cerebral Cortex, 25, 2416-2426.

52. Bi, Y., Han, Z., Zhong, S., Ma, Y., Gong, G., Huang, R., Song, L., Fang, Y., He, Y., Caramazza, A. (2015). The White Matter Structural Network Underlying Human Tool Use and Tool Understanding. The Journal of Neuroscience, 35(17), 6822-6835. (Journal Club Commentary by Vonk, J. M. J., 2015 J Neurosci)

53. Wang, X., Peelen, M., Han, Z., He, C., Caramazza, A., Bi, Y. (2015). How Visual Is the Visual Cortex? Comparing Connectional and Functional Fingerprints between Congenitally Blind and Sighted Individuals. The Journal of Neuroscience, 35(36), 12545-12559.

54. Fang, Y., Han, Z., Zhong, S., Gong, G., Song, L., Liu, F., Huang, R., Du, X., Sun, R., Wang, Q., He, Y., Bi, Y. (2015). The semantic anatomical network: Evidence from healthy and brain‐damaged patient populations. Human brain mapping, 36(9), 3499-3515.

55. Lin, N., Wang, X., Zhao, Y., Liu, Y., Li, X., Bi, Y. (2015). Premotor cortex activation elicited during word comprehension relies on access of specific action concepts. Journal of cognitive neuroscience, 27(10), 2051-2062.

56. Almeida, J., He, D., Chen, Q., Mahon, B. Z., Zhang, F., Goncalves, ó., Fang, Y., Bi, Y. (2015). Decoding visual location from neural patterns in the auditory cortex of the congenitally deaf. Psychological Science, 26, 1771-1782.

57. Yang, Q., Guo, Q., Bi, Y. (2015). The Brain Connectivity Basis of Semantic Dementia: A Selective Review. CNS neuroscience & therapeutics, 21(10), 784-792.

58. Lin, N., Bi, Y., Zhao, Y., Luo, C., Li, X. (2015). The theory-of-mind network in support of action verb comprehension: Evidence from an fMRI study. Brain and language, 141, 1-10.

59. Dai, Z. J., Bi, Y., He, Y. (2015). With Great Brain Hub Connectivity Comes Great Vulnerability. CNS neuroscience & therapeutics, 21(7), 541-542.

60. Zhou, W., Xia, Z., Bi, Y., Shu, H. (2015). Altered connectivity of the dorsal and ventral visual regions in dyslexic children: a resting-state fMRI study. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 9, 495.

61. Lin, Q., Dai, Z., Xia, M., Han, Z., Huang, R., Gong, G., Liu, C., Bi, Y., He, Y. (2015). A connectivity-based test-retest dataset of multi-modal magnetic resonance imaging in young healthy adults. Scientific Data, 2, 150056.

62. Xie, S., Zhang, Z., Zhao, Q., Zhang, J., Zhong, S., Bi, Y., He, Y., Pan, H., Gong, G. (2015). The effects of X chromosome loss on neuroanatomical and cognitive phenotypes during adolescence: a multi-modal structural MRI and diffusion tensor imaging study. Cerebral Cortex, 25(9), 2842-2853.

63. Dai, Z., Yan, C., Li, K., Wang, Z., Wang, J., Cao, M., Lin, Q., Shu, N., Xia, M., Bi, Y., He, Y. (2015). Identifying and mapping connectivity patterns of brain network hubs in Alzheimer’s disease. Cerebral Cortex, 25(10), 3723-3742.

64. Peelen, M., He, C., Han, Z, Caramazza, A., Bi, Y. (2014). Nonvisual and visual object shape representations in occipitotemporal cortex: evidence from congenitally blind and sighted adults. The Journal of Neuroscience, 34(1), 163-170.

65. Bi, Y., He, Y. (2014). Connectomics Reveals Faulty Wiring Patterns for Depressed Brain. Biological Psychiatry, 76(7), 515-516.

66. Lingnau, A., Strnad, L., He, C., Fabbri, S., Han, Z., & Bi, Y., et al. (2014). Cross-modal plasticity preserves functional specialization in posterior parietal cortex. Cerebral Cortex, 24(2), 541-549.

67. Han, Z., Ma, Y., Gong, G., He, Y., Caramazza, A., Bi, Y. (2013). White matter structural connectivity underlying semantic processing: Evidence from brain damaged patients. Brain, 136, 2952-2965.

68. Han, Z., Bi, Y., Chen, J., Chen, Q., He, Y., Caramazza, A. (2013). Distinct regions of right temporal cortex are associated with biological and human-agent motion: fmri and neuropsychological evidence. The Journal of Neuroscience, 33(39), 15442-15453.

69. Wang, X., Han, Z., He, Y., Caramazza, A., Song, L., Bi, Y. (2013). Where color rests: Spontaneous brain activity of bilateral fusiform and lingual regions predicts object color knowledge performance. NeuroImage, 76, 252-263.

70. He, C., Peelen, M., Han, Z., Lin, N., Caramazza, A., Bi, Y. (2013). Selectivity for large nonmanipulable objects in scene-selective visual cortex does not require visual experience. NeuroImage, 79, 1-9.

71. Peelen, M., Bracci, S., Lu, X., He, C., Caramazza, A., Bi, Y. (2013). Tool Selectivity in Left Occipitotemporal Cortex Develops without Vision. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 25(8), 1225-1234.

72. Guo, Q., He, C., Wen, X., Song, L., Han, Z., Bi, Y. (2013). Adapting the Pyramids and Palm Trees Test, the Kissing and Dancing Test and developing other semantic tests for the Chinese population. Applied Psycholinguistics, 35(6), 1001-1019.

73. Yu, X., Bi, Y., Han, Z., Law, S. P. (2013). An fMRI study of grammatical morpheme processing associated with nouns and verbs in Chinese. PLOS one, 8(10), e74952.

74. Wei, T., Liang, X., He, Y., Zang, Y., Han, Z., Caramazza, A., Bi, Y. (2012). Predicting Conceptual Processing Capacity from Spontaneous Neuronal Activity of the Left Middle Temporal Gyrus. The Journal of Neuroscience, 32(2), 481-489.

75. Wang, X., Han, Z., He, Y., Liu, L., Bi, Y. (2012). Resting-State Functional Connectivity Patterns Predict Chinese Word Reading Competency. PLOS one, 7(9), e44848.

76. Zhang, X., Han, Z., Bi, Y. (2012). Are abstract and concrete concepts organized differently? Evidence from the blocked translation paradigm. Applied Psycholinguistics, 34(5), 1059-1092.

77. Han, Z., Song, L., Bi, Y. (2012). Cognitive mechanism of writing to dictation of logographic characters. Applied Psycholinguistics, 33(3), 517-537.

78. Lingnau, A., Strnad L., He, C., Fabbri, S., Han Z., Bi, Y., Caramazza A. (2012) Cross-modal plasticity preserves functional specialization in posterior parietal cortex. Cerebral Cortex, 24(2), 541-549.

79. Yu, X., Bi. Y., Han, Z., Zhu, C., Law, S. P. (2012). Neural correlates of comprehension and production of nouns and verbs in Chinese. Brain and Language, 122(2), 126-31.