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

Faculty

Current Faculty

Xi Yu Ph.D.Cognitive and neural trajectories underlying language and reading acquisition, as well as the mechanisms underlying learning disabilities. xi.yu#bnu.edu.cn

Educational Experience

09/2009-11/2013　Doctor of Philosophy in Cognitive Neuroscience, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, (Advisor: Sam Po Law, Ph.D.)

09/2004-07/2008　 Bachelor of Science in Psychology, Beijing Normal University, China, School of Psychology

Professional Experience

03/2023-present　Associate Professor, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China, State key laboratory of cognitive neuroscience and learning

09/2019-present　Assistant Professor, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China, State key laboratory of cognitive neuroscience and learning

08/2014-08/2019　Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, Division of Developmental Medicine: Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, (Advisor: Nadine Gaab, Ph.D.)

09/2012-03/2013　Fulbright Fellow, Johns Hopkins University, MD/The University of California, Irvine, CA, (Advisor: Brenda Rapp, Ph.D./Steven Small, Ph.D.)

08/2008-08/2009　Research Assistant, Beijing Normal University, China, National Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, (Advisor: Yanchao Bi Ph.D.)

Research Description

Our lab is a translational neuroscience lab focusing on language and reading acquisition. Utilizing various behavioral and imaging methodologies, we aim to 1) characterize the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying phoneme learning in infancy as well as concept development in early childhood; 2) identify early language and preliteracy precursors of school-age reading abilities; 3) develop evidence-based intervention programs to facilitate language development in children with learning disabilities in language and reading.

Publications

1. Yu, X.^1*, Ferradal, S.¹, Sliva, D., Dunstan, J., Carruthers, C., Sanfilippo, J., Zuk, J., Zollei, L., Body, E., Gagoski, B., Ou, Y., Grant, E. & Gaab, N. (Accepted). Functional connectivity in infancy and toddlerhood predicts long-term language and pre-literacy outcomes. Cerebral Cortex [¹authors contributed equally]. This work is covered by Harvard Brain Science Initiative.

2. Yu, X., Zuk J., Perdue, M., Ozernov-Palchik, O., Raney, T., Beach, S., Norton, E., Gabrieli, J., & Gaab, N. (2020). Putative protective neural mechanisms in prereaders with a family history of dyslexia who subsequently develop typical reading skills. Human Brain Mapping, 41(10), 2827-2845.

3. Yu, X., Zuk, J., & Gaab, N. (2018). What factors facilitate resilience in developmental dyslexia? Examining protective and compensatory mechanisms across the neurodevelopmental trajectory. Child Development Perspectives, 12(4), 240-246. [All authors contributed equally]

4. Yu, X., Raney, T., Perdue, M., Zuk, J., Ozernov-Palchik, O., Becker, B., Raschle, N.M., & Gaab, N. (2018). Emergence of the neural network underlying phonological processing from the prereading to the emergent reading stage: A longitudinal study. Human Brain Mapping, 39(5), 2047-2063. [2019 Human Brain Mapping Editors’ Choice Award nominee]

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

6. 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, 126-131.

7. Yu, X., Law, S. P., Han, Z., Zhu, C., & Bi, Y., (2011). Dissociative neural correlates of semantic processing of nouns and verbs in Chinese: A language with minimal inflectional morphology. NeuroImage, 58, 912-922.

8. Zuk, J., Yu, X., Sanfilippo, J., Figuccio, M., Sanfilippo, J., Dunstan, J., Carruthers, C., Sideridis, G., Turesky, T. K., Gagoski, B., Grant, E., & Gaab, N. (2021). White matter in infancy is prospectively associated with language outcomes in kindergarten. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 100973.

9. Zuk, J., Dunstan, J., Norton, E., Yu, X., Ozernov-Palchik, O., Wang, Y., Hogan, T., Gabrieli, J., & Gaab, N. (2021). Multifactorial pathways facilitate resilience among kindergarteners at risk for dyslexia: A longitudinal behavioral and neuroimaging study. Developmental science, 24(1), e12983.

10. Turesky, T. K., Jensen, S. K., Yu, X., Kumar, S., Wang, Y., Sliva, D. D., ... & Haque, R. (2019). The relationship between biological and psychosocial risk factors and resting‐state functional connectivity in 2‐month‐old Bangladeshi infants: A feasibility and pilot study. Developmental science, 22(5).

11. Zuk, J., Perdue, M., Becker B., Yu, X., Chang, M., Raschle, N., & Gaab, N. (2018). Neural correlates of phonological processing: Disrupted in children with dyslexia and enhanced in musically trained children. Developmental cognitive neuroscience, 34, 82-91.

12. Gaab, N., Yu, X., & Ozernov-Palchik, O. (2017). Early Atypical Brain Development in Developmental Dyslexia. Dyslexia and Neuroscience: The Geschwind-Galaburda Hypothesis 30 Years Later.

13. Ozernov-Palchik, O., Yu, X., Wang, Y., & Gaab, N. (2016). Lessons to be learned: How a comprehensive neurobiological framework of atypical reading development can inform educational practice. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 10, 45-58.

14. Lin, N., Yu, X., Zhao, Y., & Zhang, M. (2016). Functional Anatomy of Recognition of Chinese Multi-Character Words: Convergent Evidence from Effects of Transposable Nonwords, Lexicality, and Word Frequency. PloS one, 11(2), e0149583.