Xiaochen Zheng
Postdoc
- Name
- Dr. X. Zheng
- Telephone
- +31 71 527 2727
- x.zheng@fsw.leidenuniv.nl
- ORCID iD
- 0000-0002-3697-3395
Xiaochen Zheng is a cognitive neuroscientist focused on cognitive control processes in language and their connections to other domains of cognitions. Her current research is funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) with a Veni grant (“The age of information overload: how do we control what we say?”).
Research
I’ve always been passionate about cognitive control processes in the brain, especially how they are shared between language and other cognitive systems. My research explores critical questions such as: How can we sustain focus amidst overloaded information and select the message we want to convey? How do our brains represent information in a way that facilitates generalization to novel situations? How can we speak many languages and use them flexibly and effortlessly?
To address these questions, I employ a variety of neuroimaging techniques - including EEG, MEG, and functional MRI - across both healthy and clinical populations. While my primary work is often associated with language - well who can resist this incredibly complex form of cognition – I have also investigated topics like memory, action planning, and decision making.
Here are a few key projects I am working on /have worked on, you can find more details on my website: https://xiaochenzheng.github.io/projects/
- Working memory gating in context-dependent language control
- Neural mechanisms of generalization and novel inference
- Control and monitoring in bilingual speech production
I am committed to team science and believe that interdisciplinary collaboration is the way to advance our science and to address societal challenges - although I am still struggling about how to implement that effectively.
Short C.V.
After my bachelor study in Psychology at Beijing Normal University (China), I moved to Europe to further my training in cognitive neuroscience, supported by a scholarship for Academic Excellence from Tilburg University. In 2015, I began my PhD at the Donders Center for Cognition (Radboud University) with an internal grant, investigating the cognitive control processes in bilingual speech production. During my PhD, I also joined the International Max Planck Research School for Language Science and collaborated on multiple side-projects using MEG and EEG.
In 2019, I joined the Motivation and Cognitive Control lab at the Donders Center for Neuroimaging as a postdoctoral researcher. My role included daily supervision of a PhD student (co-promotor) and coordination of an interdisciplinary research team from over 10 international institutes. Together with the team, I investigate the shared mechanisms of structural learning and generalization in language processing and nonlinguistic cognitive processes (e.g., action planning) using functional MRI, MEG, and pharmacological manipulation.
In Fall 2024, I joined the Cognitive Psychology Unit in Leiden, thanks to a Veni grant from the Dutch Research Council. With this grant, I will explore the working memory gating process in context-dependent language control - stay tuned for updates!
Beside science, I am also curious about food, cats, and my future adventures around the world.
PhD student
Elena Mainetto (Radboud University)
Relevant links
Personal website (https://xiaochenzheng.github.io/)
Google scholar (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=RcStMxAAAAAJ&hl=en)
LinkedIn (https://nl.linkedin.com/in/xiaochen-zheng-1072a4a3
Postdoc
- Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen
- Instituut Psychologie
- Cognitieve Psychologie
- Zheng X.Y., Hebart M.N., Grill F., Dolan R.J., Doeller. C.F., Cools R. & Garvert M.M. (2024), Parallel cognitive maps for multiple knowledge structures in the hippocampal formation, Cerebral Cortex 34(2): .
- Cui N., Piai V. & Zheng X. Y. (2024), Domain-general cognitive control processes in bilingual switching: evidence from midfrontal theta oscillations, European Journal of Neuroscience 60(5): 4813-4829.
- Zheng X.Y. & Wynn S.C. (2022), Midfrontal theta is associated with errors, but no evidence for a link with error-related memory, Neuroimage: Reports 2(4): .
- Chupina I., Sierpowska J. & Zheng X.Y. (2022), Right-hemisphere compensation during word production: : A single case of left-hemisphere young stroke, European Journal of Neuroscience 56(8): .
- Hustá C., Zheng X., Papoutsi C. & Piai V. (2021), Electrophysiological signatures of conceptual and lexical retrieval from semantic memory, Neuropsychologia 161: .
- Piai V., Witte E. de, Sierpowska J., Zheng X., Hinkley L.B. & Mizuiri D......Nagarajan S.S. (2020), Language neuroplasticity in brain tumor patients revealed by magnetoencephalography, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 32(8): 1497-1507.
- Zheng X. (28 February 2020), Control and monitoring in bilingual speech production: language selection, switching and intrusion (Dissertatie, Centre for Language Studies , Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen ). Nijmegen: Radboud University. Supervisor(s) and Co-supervisor(s): Roelofs A.P.A., Lemhöfer K.M.
- Zheng X., Roelofs A., Erkan H. & Lemhöfer K. (2020), Dynamics of inhibitory control during bilingual speech production: An electrophysiological study, Neuropsychologia 140(11): 107387.
- Piai V. & Zheng X. (2019), Speaking waves:: neuronal oscillations in language production. . In: , The Psychology of Learning and Motivation: Academic Press. 265-302.
- Zheng X., Roelofs A. & Lemhöfer K. (2019), Language selection contributes to intrusion errors in speaking: . Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, : Evidence from picture naming, Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 23(4): 788-800.
- Zheng X. & Lemhöfer K. (2019), The “semantic P600” in second language processing: When syntax conflicts with semantics. : When syntax conflicts with semantics, Neuropsychologia 127: 131-147.
- Zheng X., Roelofs A., Farquhar J. & Lemhöfer K. (2018), Monitoring language selection errors in switching: Not all about conflict, PLoS ONE 13: e0200397.
- Zheng X., Roelofs A. & Lemhöfer K. (2018), Language selection errors in switching: : Language priming or cognitive Control?, Language, Cognition and Neuroscience 33(2): 139-147.