Prof. Haoyun ZHANG

  • Room 1015f, N21, University of Macau

  • (853) 8822-9212

  • (853) 8822-2456

  • haoyunzhang@um.edu.mo

  • Consultation hours: Tuesdays & Fridays, 14:30-15:30

Ph.D., Psychology & Language Science Dual Title, Specialization in Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, The Pennsylvania State University, USA

M.S., Fundamental Psychology, Beijing Normal University, China

B.S., Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, China

  • January 2022 –Present, Assistant Professor, Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Macau.
  • August 2019 – December 2021, Assistant Director of Human Imaging, Social, Life, & Engineering Sciences Imaging Center (SLEIC), The Pennsylvania State University, USA
  • August 2019 – December 2021, Assistant Research Professor, Social, Life, & Engineering Sciences Imaging Center (SLEIC), The Pennsylvania State University, USA

  • Adele Miccio Memorial Travel Award to visit Dr. Yaakov Stern’s lab at Columbia University, supported by the Center for Language Science, the Pennsylvania State University, 2018.
  • Kavli Summer Institute in Cognitive Neuroscience Fellowship, to attend the summer institute on various topics of cognitive neuroscience, which was held at the University of California, Santa Barbara, 2017.
  • RGSO Dissertation Award, to support dissertation research, supported by the College of Liberal Arts, the Pennsylvania State University, 2017. ($2110)
  • Academic Contribution Award, for outstanding academic performance, supported by the State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, China. 2012. ($250)
  • Outstanding Academic Achievement Award, for outstanding academic performance, supported by the State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, China.2012. ($330)
  • Excellent Student Award, for excellent academic achievement, awarded by Beijing Normal University, China. 2012.
  • Major First-level Scholarship, for outstanding academic performance, by Shaanxi Normal University, China. 2007; 2008; 2009. ($120 dollars)
  • Excellent Student Award, for outstanding academic achievement and professional development, awarded by Shaanxi Normal University, China. 2007; 2008.
  • National Encouragement Scholarship for Outstanding College Students, for excellent academic performance (i.e., top 1%), awarded by the Ministry of Education of China, 2007; 2008. ($1640)

Cognitive abilities, such as executive function and language production, decline with age. Older adults typically struggle to memorize items, inhibit irrelevant information, and/or produce fluent speech. These age-associated declines interfere with older adults’ successful communication and social interactions. To help alleviate these problems, my research investigates factors that contribute to age-related declines in language production, and their neural bases, mainly from four perspectives, 1) Phonological characteristics, 2) Cognitive control demands, 3) Functional connectivity, and 4) Bilingualism. I use various behavioral and neuroscience methods to investigate my research questions, including Electroencephalography (EEG), and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI).

  • The Science and Technology Development Fund, Macao S.A.R (FDCT, 0153/2022/A), 2023-2026“澳門長者認知測查平台及認知訓練方案的探索研究 Exploring cognitive assessment platform and cognitive training protocols for Macau older adults”, Role, Principle Investigator
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC32200845), 2023-2025, “认知控制对语言产出功能老化的影响及其神经机制：一个多层次，多方法，多人群的研究”, Role, Principle Investigator
  • Multi-Year Research Grant, University of Macau (MYRG2022-00148-ICI), 2023-2024, “Effects of cognitive control on age-related differences in language production”, Role, Principle Investigator
  • Startup Research Grant, University of Macau (SRG2022-00003-ICI), 2022-2025, “The neural bases of lifelong bilingualism effects on age-related differences in language production and executive functions”, Role: Principle Investigator
  • NSF PIRE Graduate Matching Grant to conduct research on bilingualism and aging for 8 weeks in Dr. Judith Kroll’s lab at the University of California, Riverside, supported by the Pennsylvania State University, 2018.
  • NSF PIRE Graduate Matching Grant to conduct research on bilingualism and aging for 5 weeks with Dr. Deborah Burke at Pomona College, supported by the Pennsylvania State University, 2016.
  • NSF PIRE Graduate Matching Grant to conduct research on bilingualism and cognitive control for 8 weeks in Dr. Teresa Bajo’s lab at the University of Granada, supported by the Pennsylvania State University, 2015.

  • Ad Hoc Reviewer – International Journal of Bilingualism; Bilingualism: Language and Cognition; Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews; Neurobiology of Aging; Plos One; Frontiers Psychology; Brain and Behavior.
  • Guest Associate Editor: Frontiers Psychology in Language Science
  • Member – The Psychonomic Society; The Society for the Neurobiology of Language.

  • CCBS7003, Brain Simulation and Neuroimaging Techniques 
  • PSYCH2002, Human Learning and Cognition 

  • Kang K., Zhang S., Xiao Y., Yu H., & Zhang H.*, The effects of endogenous semantic variables during productive lexical retrieval: A Behavioral-Neural Dual Swinging Model (DSM), NeuroImage, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120809
  • Zhong, J., Huang, W., Kang, K., Duñabeitia, J.A., Pliatsikas, C., & Zhang H.* (2024). Standardizing norms for 1286 colored pictures in Cantonese. Behavior Research Methods. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-024-02362-y.
  • Kang, K., Xiao, Y., Yu, H., Diaz, M. T., & Zhang, H. * (2023). Multilingual language diversity protects native language production under different control demands. Brain Sciences, 13(11), 1587.
  • Zhang, H., * & Diaz, M. T. (2023). Task difficulty modulates age-related differences in functional connectivity during word production. Brain and Language, 240, 105263.
  • Zhang, H., * & Diaz, M. (2023). Resting state network segregation modulates age-related differences in language production. Neurobiology of Language, 1-52.
  • Wu, Y. J., Dang, Q., Zhang, Z., Zhang, H., & Guo, T*. (2023). Multivariate decoding methods reveal how speaking two dialects affects executive functions. European Journal of Neuroscience, 57(5), 840-853.
  • Wu Y. J. *, Miwa K and Zhang H (2022) Editorial: Cognitive factors in bilingual language processing. Frontiers in Psychology. 13:1055759. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1055759
  • Diaz, M. T. *, Zhang, H., Cosgrove, A. L., Gertel, V. H., Troutman, S. B., & Karimi, H. (2022). Neural sensitivity to semantic neighbors is stable across the adult lifespan. Neuropsychologia, 108237.
  • Kałamała, P., Walther, J., Zhang, H., Diaz, M., Senderecka, M., & Wodniecka, Z. * (2022). The use of a second language enhances the neural efficiency of inhibitory control: an ERP study. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 25(1), 163-180.
  • Zhang, H., Diaz, M. T., Guo, T., & Kroll, J. F. * (2021). Language immersion and language training: Two paths to enhanced language regulation and cognitive control. Brain and Language, 223, 105043.
  • Zhang, H., Gertel, V.H., Cosgrove, A.L., & Diaz, M.T. (2021). Age-related differences in resting-state and task-based network characteristics and cognition: A lifespan sample. Neurobiology of Aging, 101, 262-272.
  • Zhang H., Bai X., & Diaz M.T. (2021). The intensity and connectivity of spontaneous brain activity in a language network relate to aging and language. Neuropsychologia, 154, 107784.
  • Diaz, M.T., Karimi, H., Gertel, V.H., Troutman, S.B.W., Cosgrove, A.L., & Zhang, H. (2021). Neural sensitivity to phonological characteristics is stable across the lifespan. Neuroimage, 225, 117511.
  • Zhang, H., Wu, Y. J., & Thierry, G. (2020). Bilingualism and aging: A focused neuroscientific review. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 54, 100890.
  • Gertel, V. H., Zhang, H., & Diaz, M. T. (2020). Stronger right hemisphere functional connectivity supports executive aspects of language in older adults. Brain and Language, 206, 104771.
  • Zhang, H., Carlson, M. T., & Diaz, M. T. (2020). Investigating the effects of phonological neighbours on word retrieval and phonetic variation in word naming and picture naming paradigms. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 35 (8), 980-991.
  • Zhang H., Eppes, A., & Diaz M. T. (2019). Task difficulty modulates age-related differences in the behavioral and neural bases of language production. Neuropsychologia, 124, 254-273.
  • Zhang, H., Eppes, A., Beatty-Martínez, A., Navarro-Torres, C., & Diaz, M. T. (2018). Task difficulty modulates brain-behavior correlations in language production and cognitive control: Behavioral and fMRI evidence from a phonological go/no-go picture-naming paradigm. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 18(5), 964-981.
  • Wu, Y. J., Zhang, H., & Guo, T. (2016). Does speaking two dialects in daily life affect executive functions? An Event-Related Potential study. PloS one, 11(3), e0150492.
  • Lu, D., Zhang, H., Kang, C., & Guo, T. (2016). ERPs evidence for the relationship between fluid intelligence and cognitive control. Neuroreport, 27, 379-383.
  • Zhang H., Kang C., Wu Y. J., Ma F., & Guo T. (2015). Improving proactive control with training on language switching in bilinguals. NeuroReport, 26(6), 354-359.
  • 张浩云，康春燕，&郭桃梅 (2014). Simon效应的近红外研究. 北京师范大学学报（自然科学版）, 2, 016.
  • 张浩云，马凤阳，陈冰玏，&郭桃梅 (2012). 非熟练汉－英双语者在英语词汇阅读中汉语自动激活的再探讨. 外语教学与研究（外国语文双月刊）, 44(5), 719-727.