Gaab Laboratory
Principal Investigator
Nadine Gaab, PhD
Dr. Nadine Gaab is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Boston Children’s Hospital /Harvard Medical School and a member of the faculty at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is a faculty adjunct at Brandeis University. Her research within the Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience focuses on the brain correlates of reading development in typical and atypical children as well as possible pre-markers of developmental dyslexia in preschoolers and infants. Dr. Gaab uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a non-invasive brain imaging tool, as well as behavioral measurement tools to study the reading brain. She is also currently working on various other research topics including: the identification of the underlying neural mechanism of comorbidity of dyslexia and ADHD; the neural correlates of reading fluency, improvement of pediatric functional imaging techniques; brain plasticity following sound and music based remediation programs for reading and language impaired children; and the influence of musical training on executive functioning, language, and reading development. In her work, Dr. Gaab collaborates with several universities in the US (e.g.; Tufts, MIT) and researchers from all over the world (e.g.; China, Brazil). She assigns major significance to the clinical translation of her research as well as community outreach.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Einat received her PhD in psychology from Tel Aviv University, Israel. She studies language processing using fMRI, focusing on linguistic properties of sentence comprehension. In the Gaab Lab, she examines the cortical representation of semantic and pragmatic properties of sentences in both adults and children. This research is conducted together with Prof. Gennaro Chierchia from the Linguistic Department at Harvard University. She also studies the cortical distinction between different semantic inferences together with Prof. John Gabrieli from MIT and Prof. Gennaro Chierchia.
Nicolas received his PhD in neuopsychology from the University of Zurich (Switzerland). During his PhD he was involved in several research projects in which he studied neural plasticity on the systems level using EEG, fMRI, structural MRI and DTI. His PhD thesis focused on functional brain connectivity in the context of graph-theoretical network analysis to investigate so-called small-world networks. As part of this thesis he implemented new methods on network analyses, which were applied to EEG, fMRI and structural MRI data. Nicolas has conducted several other studies in the context of working memory training, sensorimotor plasticity, music perception, anxiety and crossmodal perception. Beside his scientific work he headed several seminars and workshops and supervised several master students in cognitive neuroscience. Nicolas joined the Gaab Lab 2012 and is currently working as a postdoctoral research fellow.
Nora Raschle received her MA in Neuropsychology from the University of Zurich (Switzerland). During her diploma work she was a research trainee at the Music and Neuroimaging Lab of Prof. Schlaug at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston. Her research included the investigation of the influence of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on the auditory system. During her Master's Program at the University of Zurich she gained experience working with clinical and psychiatric populations. Nora joined the Gaab Lab at the beginning of 2008 as a visiting pre-doctoral student from the University of Zurich and submitted her thesis ‘Investigating Neural and Behavioral Pre-Markers of Developmental Dyslexia Prior to Reading Onset’ in 2011. Nora is currently working as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Gaab Laboratory, investigating perceptual, cognitive and brain development in typically developing children, as well as children diagnosed with or at risk for developmental dyslexia.
Research Coordinator
Ola received her BS degree in Psychology with a minor in Philosophy and her MS in Counseling from Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas. Ola’s experience and interests lie in the intersection of educational and cognitive neuroscience research. She is interested in applying neuroimaging methods to study how children develop the capacity for reading and math; what happens when this development doesn’t follow typical trajectories; and neuroplasticity in response to instructional methods and interventions. Most importantly, Ola is passionate about translating research into practice and policy and tangible help to those who need it. Before joining the Gaab Lab Ola worked at the Institute for Evidence-Based Education at SMU as a Research Associate on several large scale reading and math studies. She also conducted therapy with low-income children and their families in a youth and family center serving several urban public schools. In the Gaab Lab, Ola is studying early markers (neural and behavioral) and predictors of developmental dyslexia using fMRI and ERP
Doctoral Students
Jennifer Zuk joined the Gaab laboratory in 2008. She received her Master’s degree in Mind, Brain and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and her B.S. in music education and B.A. in cognitive science from Case Western Reserve University. In the Gaab lab, Jennifer works on a variety of projects exploring the relationship between musical ability and language development, in addition to our infant MRI study investigating early neural markers of dyslexia. Jennifer has also explored the influence of singing-based therapy for nonverbal children in the Music & Neuroimaging Lab with Dr. Schlaug at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Her research interests include child development and neuropsychology, specifically the influence of music on language development and learning.
Mike is currently a graduate student in Psychology at Boston University. He received his B.A. in Psychology with distinction and his B.S in Human Physiology from Boston University. Mike joined the Gaab lab in September 2010. Mike works on a number of projects exploring the neural correlates of reading. Mike's research interests include developmental neuropsychology and cognitive development.
Research Assistants
Barbara graduated with a B.A. in Psychology and minor in Biology from the State University of New York at Purchase in 2012 and joined the Gaab Lab shortly after. She is currently working on our BOLD and Infant studies, which use fMRI to identify early neural markers of dyslexia. In addition to her interest in language development and language disorders, Barbara is also interested in the development and decline of executive functions, the biological markers of developmental disorders such as autism, and the neurocognitive effects of meditation.
Bryce earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of California Berkeley where she studied linguistics and German, and her Masters of Education in Language and Literacy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. During her Masters work, she focused on literacy issues faced by students with developmental disabilities as well as English-language learners being misdiagnosed with disabilities. She has extensive experience with psychoeducational assessments, which led her to contributions on several research studies, including Dr. Clancy Blair’s Tools of the Mind research at NYU, Dr. Matthew Schneps’ and Dr. Jennifer Thomson’s work on dyslexia and spatial perception at Harvard, and most importantly, her initial work here at the Gaab Lab. She joined the Gaab Lab in 2011 and is currently working on our BOLD and Infant MRI studies, which explore the early neural markers for dyslexia, as well as our pilot study on Specific Language Impairment (SLI).
Sara Smith is a doctoral student in Applied Linguistics at the University of Oxford, where she also received her MSc in the same field. Her doctoral research investigates the role of formulaic language in reading and language comprehension, with an emphasis on the impact of bilingualism on cognitive development and reading-related skills. She also has research experience in language testing and assessment, with a particular focus in the development of vocabulary measures for young learners and instrument validity and reliability. Her overall research interests are in the skills that contribute to reading success and ways to assist children who struggle with learning to read. Before joining the Gaab Lab in 2012, Sara worked at the University of Oxford, Department of Education as a teaching assistant and researcher. She is currently working on our BOLD and Infant MRI study, exploring early neural markers for dyslexia.
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Curtis is currently an undergraduate student studying Neuropsychology at Emmanuel College. He started working at the Gaab Lab in September of 2011. Curtis works on data entry, organization, and recruitment for the BOLD study and the READ study in collaboration with MIT. He is also in charge of maintenance of the database, website, and assisting RA's with research sessions. He hopes to continue to learn and gain more experience in analyzing fMRI brain data.
Lab Interns
Farah is an undergraduate student at Northeastern University where she is currently working towards a BS in psychology. Farah joined the lab with Northeastern's co-op program in July 2012 where she is assisting with research on SLI and other research projects related to dyslexia. Her research interests include the impact of family systems and childhood trauma. Farah hopes to attend a graduate psychology program in the Fall of 2013.
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