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Chantel Prat, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

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Bio

Dr. Prat is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at UW. She earned her Ph.D. at the University of California, Davis, working with Debra Long on investigations of individual differences in representation of discourse in the two hemispheres, and trained subsequently at the Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging with Marcel Just, conducting investigations of network-level characterizations of cognitive capacity. Dr. Prat’s research investigates the nature of biological constraints on information processing, with an emphasis on the neural correlates of individual differences in language comprehension abilities. Her current research at the Cognition and Cortical Dynamics Laboratory employs the combination of fMRI, TMS, DTI, and behavioral paradigms to investigate the neural basis of individual differences in language and cognition.

Dr. Prat was was recognized as the Young Investigator for 2011 by the Society for Text and Discourse. The purpose of this award is to recognize outstanding early career contributions to text and discourse research. Recipients have demonstrated exceptional and innovative contributions to discourse research and show superior promise as leaders in the field.

CV

Educational Background

Ph. D. in Cognitive Psychology, University of California, Davis, June 2004
M. A. in Cognitive Psychology, University of California, Davis, September 2001
B. A. in Psychology, University of California, San Diego, June 1997

 

Academic Positions Held

September 2015 – Present     Associate Professor, Department of Psychology and Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle
September 1, 2010 – 2015     Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology and Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle
July 2008 – August 31,2010     Special Research Faculty, Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University
June 2005 - June 2008     Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging, Carnegie Mellon University

 

Professional Offices, Awards, and Affiliations

Tom Trabasso Young Investigator Award, Society for Text and Discourse, 2011.

Editorial Assistant: Psychological Bulletin (2005-2008)
Ad Hoc Reviewer: Psychological Bulletin, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, Human Brain Mapping, Cerebral Cortex, Neuropsychologia
NIH NRSA Fellowship, Carnegie Mellon University, 2005-2007

Download PDF format CV via this link.

Publications

Stocco, A., Prat, C. S., & Graham, L. K. (revision under review). Individual differences in reinforcement learning predict fluid reasoning abilities. Cognitive Science.
 
Seo, R., & Prat, C. S. (under revision). Investigating Local and Global Control Mechanisms in Bilingual Grammatical Processing. Journal of Experimental Psychology, Language, Memory, and Cognition.
 
MacInnes, J. J., Adcock, A., Prat, C. S. Rao, R. P. N., Dickerson, K. C., & Stocco, A. (revision under revision). Pyneal: Open Source Real-time fMRI Software. Frontiers in Neuroscience-Brain Imaging Methods.
 
Bice, K., Yamasaki, B. L., & Prat, C. S. (in press). Bilingual Language Experience Shapes Resting-State Brain Rhythms. Neurobiology of Language.
 
Yamasaki, B. L., & Prat, C. S. (in press). Predictors and Consequences of Individual Differences in Cross-Linguistic Interactions: A Model of Second Language Reading Skill. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition.
 
Prat, C. S. Madhyastha, T., Mottarella, M. M., & Kuo, C. (2020). Computer Whisperers: Programming Aptitude is more related to Language than to Numeracy. Scientific Reports.
 
Ceballos, J.M., Stocco, A., & Prat, C. S. (2020). The Role of Basal Ganglia Reinforcement Learning in Lexical Ambiguity Resolution. Topics in Cognitive Science, 12 (1), 402-416.
 
Zhou, P., Prat, C. S., Yamasaki, B. L., & Stocco, A. (2020). Monitoring of Attentional Oscillations Through Spectral Similarity Analysis Predicts Reading Comprehension. Brain and Language, 200, 104709.
 
Yamasaki, B. L., Stocco, A., Liu, A. S., & Prat, C. S. (2019). Effects of bilingual language experience on basal ganglia computations: A dynamic causal modeling test of the conditional routing model. Brain and Language, 197, 104665.
 
Seo, R. & Prat, C. S. (2019). Proactive and Reactive Language Control in the Bilingual Brain. Brain Sciences, 9(7), 161.
 
Jian, L., Stocco, A., Losey, D. M., Abernethy, J. A., Prat, C. S., & Rao, R. P. N. (2019). BrainNet: A Multi-Person Brain-to-Brain Interface for Direct Collaboration Between Brains, Scientific Reports, 9(1), 6115.
 
Prat, C. S., Yamasaki, B. L., & Peterson, E. R. (2019). Individual Differences in Resting-State Brain Rhythms Uniquely Predict Second Language Learning Rate and Speaking Accuracy in Adult Learners. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 31(1), 78-94.
 
Seo, R., Stocco, A., & Prat, C. S. (2018). The Bilingual Language Network: Differential Involvement of Anterior Cingulate, Basal Ganglia and Prefrontal Cortex in Preparation, Monitoring, and Execution. Neuroimage, 174, 44-56.
 
Yamasaki, B. L., Stocco, A., & Prat, C. S. (2018). Relating individual differences in bilingual language experiences to executive attention. Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience, 1-24.
 
Stocco, A., Yamasaki, B. L., & Prat, C. S. (2018). Human performance across decision making, selective attention, and working memory tasks: Experimental data and computer simulations. Data in Brief, 17, 907-914.
 
Mehravari, A. S., Emmorey, K., Prat, C. S., Klarman, L., & Osterhout, L. (2017). Brain-Based Individual Difference Measures of Reading Skill in Deaf and Hearing Adults. Neuropsychologia, 101, 153-168.
 
Stocco, A., Murray, N., L. Yamasaki, B. L., Renno, T., J., Nguyen, J., & Prat, C. S. (2017). Individual differences in the Simon effect are underpinned by differences in competitive dynamics in the basal ganglia: An experimental verification and a computational model. Cognition, 164, 31-45.
 
Prat, C. S., Stocco, A., Neuhaus, E., & Kleinhans, N. K. (2016). Basal ganglia impairments lead to abnormal signal routing to prefrontal cortex in autism spectrum disorder. Neuropsychologia, 91, 268-281.
 
Prat, C. S., Yamasaki, B.Y., Kluender, R., and Stocco, A. (2016). Resting-State EEG Predicts Rate of Second Language Learning in Adults. Brain and Language, 157, 44-50.
 
Becker, T. M., Prat, C. S., & Stocco, A. (2016). A Network-Level Analysis of Cognitive Flexibility Reveals Differential Influence of the Anterior Cingulate Cortex in Bilinguals versus Monolinguals, Neuropsychologia, 85, 62-73.
 
Yang, Y., Tompkins, C., Meigh, K., & Prat, C. S., (2015). Voxel-based lesion symptom mapping of coarse coding and suppression deficits in right-hemisphere-damaged patients. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 24(4), S939-S952.
 
Stocco, A., Prat, C.S., Losey, D. Cronin, J., Wu, J., Abernethy, J. A., & Rao, R. P. N. (2015). Playing 20 Questions with the Mind: Collaborative Problem Solving by Humans using a Brain-to-Brain Interface. Plos One, 10 (9).
 
Rao, R. P. N., Stocco, A., Bryan, M., Sarma, D. Yongquist, T., Wu, J., & Prat, C. S. (2014). A Direct Brain-to-Brain Interface in Humans. PLOS One, 9 (11).
 
Yamasaki, B. L. & Prat, C. S. (2014). The importance of managing interference for second language reading ability: An individual differences investigation. Discourse Processes, 51, 445-467.
 
Stocco, A., & Prat, C. S. (2014). Bilingualism trains specific brain circuits involved in flexible rule selection and application. Brain and Language, 137, 50-61.
 
Stocco, A., Yamasaki, B., Natalenko, R., & Prat, C. S. (2014). Bilingual brain training: A neurobiological framework of how bilingual experience improves executive function. International Journal of Bilingualism, 18(1), 67-92.
 
Mason, R. A., Prat, C. S., & Just, M. A. (2014). Neurocognitive brain response to transient impairment of Wernicke’s area. Cerebral Cortex, 24(6), 1474-1484.
 
Buchweitz, A. & Prat, C. S. (2013). Pushing the boundaries of language in the bilingual brain: A reply to commentary on "The bilingual brain: Flexibility and control in the human cortex," Physics of Life Reviews, 10(4), 454.
 
Buchweitz, A. & Prat, C. S. (2013). The bilingual brain: Flexibility and control in the human cortex, Physics of Life Reviews, 10(4), 428-443.
 
Prat, C. S., Mason, R. A., & Just, M. A. (2012). An fMRI investigation of analogical mapping in metaphor comprehension: The influence of context and individual cognitive capacities on processing demands. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 38, 282-94.
 
Prat, C. S., & Stocco, A. (2012). Information routing in the basal ganglia: Highways to abnormal connectivity in autism? Comment on “Disrupted cortical connectivity theory as an explanatory model for autism spectrum disorders” by Kana et al. Physics of Life Reviews 9:11(1), 1-2.
 
Prat, C. S. (2011). The Brain Basis of Individual Differences in Language Comprehension Abilities. Language and Linguistic Compass, 5(9), 635-649. Click here to receive a reprint
 
Prat, C. S., Mason, R. A., & Just, M. A. (2011). Individual differences in the neural basis of Causal Inferencing. Brain and Language, 116, 1-13. Click here to receive a reprint
 
Prat, C. S. & Just, M. A. (2011). Exploring the cortical dynamics underpinning individual differences in sentence comprehension. Cerebral Cortex, 21, 1747-1760. Click here to receive a reprint
 
Prat, C. S. & Just, M. A. (2008). Brain bases of individual differences in cognition. Psychological Science Agenda, 22(5). Click here to receive a reprint
 
Prat, C. S., Keller, T. A., & Just, M. A. (2007). Individual differences in sentence comprehension: An fMRI investigation of syntactic and lexical processing demands. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 19(12), 1950-1963. Click here to receive a reprint
 
Prat, C. S., Long, D. L., & Baynes, K. (2007). The representation of discourse in the two hemispheres: An individual differences investigation. Brain and Language, 100(3), 283-294. Click here to receive a reprint
 
Mills, D., Plunkett, K., Prat. C., & Schaffer, G. (2005). Watching the infant brain learn words: Effects of vocabulary size and experience. Cognitive Development, 10, 19-31. Click here to receive a reprint
 
Mills, D. L., Prat, C., Zangl, R., Stager, C. L., Neville, H. J., & Werker, J. F. (2004). Language experience and the organization of brain activity to phonetically similar words: ERP evidence from 14- and 20-month-olds. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 16(8). 1452-1464.
 
Long, D. L., & Prat, C. S. (2002). Working memory and Stroop interference: An individual differences investigation. Memory & Cognition, 30, 294-301.
 

About the Lab

Human thought is characterized by its flexible, dynamic nature. The Cognition and Cortical Dynamics Laboratory (CCDL) consists of a group of researchers interested in better understanding how the brain changes, or adapts, to deal with the ever present fluctuations in information processing demands.  Our research on these issues addresses a set of unifying questions, such as:

What are the biological bases of individual differences in cognitive capabilities?  What are the neural mechanisms underpinning cognitive flexibility?  The CCDL utilizes multiple methods and approaches including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), biologically constrained computational modeling, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and individual differences research to collect converging evidence about the biological nature of human thought.

 

Contact

Phone Number: 
(206) 685-8610
Email: 
[email protected]

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