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Christos Pliatsikas

Email:
c.pliatsikas@reading.ac.uk
Phone:
01183788521
Job title:
Associate Professor

Responsibilities:

School Mentor for Early Career Researchers
Department Director of Academic Tutoring
Steering Committee and lead of Neuroscience Theme for Centre for Literacy and Multilingualism (CeLM).

Areas of interest

My research is on experience-based neuroplasticity, with a primary focus on the effects of bi-/multilingualism on brain structure and function, investigated with behavioural and MRI (functional and structural) methods.

My research interests include:

Are brain structure and function, and cognition, affected by learning additional languages?
How are these effects modulated by the individual experiences of the language learner?
How do these effects interact with typical brain development and ageing, and what are the implications for age- or disease- related neurodegeneration?
Are there particular effects on the brain and/or cognition caused by language situations like diglossia, digraphia and biliteracy?

Teaching

Modules: PL1LB, PL3RD, PLMRD, PLMRDN, PL2M2MM2
Topics: Language in the Brain, Introductory Neurology for Speech and Language Therapy students, BSc and MSc research and dissertation projects.

Research centres and groups

Bilingualism in the Brain lab (personal lab)
Psycholinguistics & Neurolinguistics Lab
Centre for Literacy and Multilingualism (CeLM)
Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics (CINN).

Academic qualifications

PhD in Psycholinguistics/Neurolinguistics, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading
MSc in Clinical Neurosciences, Institute of Neurology, UCL, London
BSc in Psychology, Pantion University, Athens, Greece.

Websites/blogs

Bilingualism in the Brain

Publications

Pliatsikas, C. ORCID: 0000-0001-7093-1773 , Pereira Soares, S. , Voits, T. , DeLuca, V. , Rothman, J. (2021) Bilingualism is a long-term cognitively challenging experience that modulates metabolite concentrations in the healthy brain. Scientific Reports , 11 (1). ISSN: 2045-2322 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-86443-4
Pliatsikas, C. ORCID: 0000-0001-7093-1773 , Ansaldo, A. , Voits, T. (2021) Bilingualism and the declining brain. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism , 11 (4). pp. 453-458. ISSN: 1879-9272 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/lab.00031.int

Voits, T. , Pliatsikas, C. ORCID: 0000-0001-7093-1773 , Robson, H. , Rothman, J. (2020) Beyond Alzheimer’s disease: can bilingualism be a more generalized protective factor in neurodegeneration?. Neuropsychologia , 147 ISSN: 0028-3932 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107593
Pliatsikas, C. ORCID: 0000-0001-7093-1773 , Meteyard, L. ORCID: 0000-0003-1184-1908 , Veríssimo, J. , DeLuca, V. ORCID: 0000-0002-2275-209X , Shattuck, K. ORCID: 0000-0002-9227-4134 , Ullman, M. ORCID: 0000-0001-9037-3537 (2020) The effect of bilingualism on brain development from early childhood to young adulthood. Brain Structure and Function , 225 pp. 2131-2152. ISSN: 1863-2661 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00429-020-02115-5
Luk, G. , Pliatsikas, C. , Rossi, E. (2020) Brain changes associated with language development and learning: A primer on methodology and applications. System , 89 ISSN: 0346-251X | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2020.102209
DeLuca, V. , Rothman, J. , Bialystok, E. , Pliatsikas, C. (2020) Duration and extent of bilingual experience modulate neurocognitive outcomes. NeuroImage , 204 ISSN: 1053-8119 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116222
Pliatsikas, C. , DeLuca, V. , Voits, T. (2020) The many shades of bilingualism: language experiences modulate adaptations in brain structure. Language Learning , 70 (52). pp. 133-149. ISSN: 0023-8333 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/lang.12386
Aveledo, F. , Higueras, Y. , Marinis, T. , Bose, A. , Pliatsikas, C. ORCID: 0000-0001-7093-1773 , Meldaña-Rivera, A. , Martínez-Ginés, M. , García-Domínguez, J. , Lozano-Ros, A. , Cuello, J. , Goicochea-Briceño, H. (2020) Multiple sclerosis and bilingualism: some initial findings. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism ISSN: 1879-9272 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/lab.18037.ave
Pliatsikas, C. (2020) Understanding structural plasticity in the bilingual brain: The Dynamic Restructuring Model. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , 23 (2). pp. 459-471. ISSN: 1469-1841 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1366728919000130
Pliatsikas, C. and Marinis, T. (2020) Online psycholinguistic methods in second language acquisition research. In: Chapelle, C. , (eds.) The Concise Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics. Wiley ISBN: 9781119147367

DeLuca, V. , Rothman, J. , Bialystok, E. , Pliatsikas, C. (2019) Redefining bilingualism as a spectrum of experiences that differentially affect brain structure and function. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America , 116 (15). pp. 7565-7574. ISSN: 0027-8424 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1811513116
Wheeldon, L. , Schuster, S. , Pliatsikas, C. , Malpass, D. , Lahiri, A. (2019) Beyond decomposition: processing zero-derivations in English visual word recognition. Cortex , 116 pp. 176-191. ISSN: 0010-9452 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2018.09.003
Leminen, A. , Smolka, E. , Duñabeitia, J. , Pliatsikas, C. (2019) Morphological processing in the brain: the good (inflection), the bad (derivation) and the ugly (compounding). Cortex , 116 pp. 4-44. ISSN: 0010-9452 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2018.08.016
DeLuca, V. , Rothman, J. , Pliatsikas, C. (2019) Linguistic immersion and structural effects on the bilingual brain: a longitudinal study. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , 22 (5). pp. 1160-1175. ISSN: 1469-1841 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1366728918000883
Pliatsikas, C. , Veríssimo, J. , Babcock, L. , Pullman, M. , Glei, D. , Weinstein, M. , Goldman, N. , Ullman, M. (2019) Working memory in older adults declines with age, but is modulated by sex and education. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology , 72 (6). pp. 1308-1327. ISSN: 1747-0218 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1747021818791994
DeLuca, V. , Miller, D. , Pliatsikas, C. , Rothman, J. (2019) Brain adaptations and neurological indices of processing in adult Second Language Acquisition: challenges for the Critical Period Hypothesis. In: Schweiter, J. , (eds.) The Handbook of the Neuroscience of Multilingualism. Wiley-Blackwell pp. 192-218. ISBN: 9781119387701 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781119387725
Pliatsikas, C. (2019) Multilingualism and brain plasticity. In: Schwieter, J. , (eds.) The handbook of the neuroscience of multilingualism. Wiley-Blackwell ISBN: 9781119387701 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781119387725.ch11

Connally, E. , Ward, D. , Pliatsikas, C. , Finnegan, S. , Jenkinson, M. , Boyles, R. , Watkins, K. (2018) Separation of trait and state in stuttering. Human Brain Mapping , 39 (8). pp. 3109-3126. ISSN: 1065-9471 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hbm.24063
Duñabeitia, J. , Crepaldi, D. , Meyer, A. , New, B. , Pliatsikas, C. , Smolka, E. , Brysbaert, M. (2018) MultiPic: a standardized set of 750 drawings with norms for six European languages. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology , 71 (4). pp. 808-816. ISSN: 1747-0218 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17470218.2017.1310261
Roberts, L. , Gonzalez Alonso, J. , Pliatsikas, C. , Rothman, J. (2018) Evidence from neurolinguistic methodologies: can it actually inform linguistic/ language acquisition theories and translate to evidence-based applications?. Second Language Research , 34 (1). pp. 125-143. ISSN: 1477-0326 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0267658316644010

Pliatsikas, C. (2017) Bilingualism and the brain. Catalyst (Edition 29)
Pliatsikas, C. , Johnstone, T. , Marinis, T. (2017) An fMRI study on the processing of long-distance wh-movement in a second language. Glossa: a journal of general linguistics , 2 (1). ISSN: 2397-1835 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/gjgl.95
Pliatsikas, C. , DeLuca, V. , Moschopoulou, E. , Saddy, J. (2017) Immersive bilingualism reshapes the core of the brain. Brain Structure and Function , 222 (4). pp. 1785-1795. ISSN: 1863-2661 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00429-016-1307-9

Pliatsikas, C. and Luk, G. (2016) Executive control in bilinguals: a concise review on fMRI studies. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , 19 (4). pp. 699-705. ISSN: 1469-1841 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1366728916000249
Luk, G. and Pliatsikas, C. (2016) Converging diversity to unity: commentary on 'The neuroanatomy of bilingualism'. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience , 31 (3). pp. 349-352. ISSN: 2327-3801 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23273798.2015.1119289

Pliatsikas, C. and Chondrogianni, V. (2015) Learning a non-native language in a naturalistic environment: insights from behavioural and neuroimaging research. Frontiers in Psychology
Pliatsikas, C. and Chondrogianni, V. (2015) Editorial: learning a non-native language in a naturalistic environment: insights from behavioral and neuroimaging research. Frontiers in Psychology , 6 ISSN: 1664-1078 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01009
Ward, D. , Connally, E. , Pliatsikas, C. , Bretherton-Furness, J. , Watkins, K. (2015) The neurological underpinnings of cluttering: some initial findings. Journal of Fluency Disorders , 43 pp. 1-16. ISSN: 0094-730X | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfludis.2014.12.003
Pliatsikas, C. , Moschopoulou, E. , Saddy, J. (2015) The effects of bilingualism on the white matter structure of the brain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America , 112 (5). pp. 1334-1337. ISSN: 0027-8424 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1414183112

Connally, E. , Ward, D. , Pliatsikas, C. , Watkins, K. (2014) Pivotal disruption? Abnormal activity in motor control regions in stuttering. St Anne's Academic Review , 5 pp. 26-43. ISSN: 2048-2566
Pliatsikas, C. , Wheeldon, L. , Lahiri, A. , Hansen, P. (2014) Processing of zero-derived words in English: an fMRI investigation. Neuropsychologia , 53 pp. 47-53. ISSN: 0028-3932 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2013.11.003
Moutsiana, C. , Johnstone, T. , Murray, L. , Fearon, P. , Cooper, P. , Pliatsikas, C. , Goodyer, I. , Halligan, S. (2014) Insecure attachment during infancy predicts greater amygdala volumes in early adulthood. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry , 56 (5). pp. 540-548. ISSN: 0021-9630 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12317
Pliatsikas, C. , Johnstone, T. , Marinis, T. (2014) fMRI evidence for the involvement of the procedural memory system in morphological processing of a second language. PLoS ONE , 9 (5). ISSN: 1932-6203 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0097298
Pliatsikas, C. , Johnstone, T. , Marinis, T. (2014) Grey matter volume in the cerebellum is related to processing of grammatical rules in a second language: a structural Voxel-Based Morphometry study. The Cerebellum , 13 (1). pp. 55-63. ISSN: 1473-4230 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12311-013-0515-6

Pliatsikas, C. and Marinis, T. (2013) Rule-based morphological processing in a second language: a behavioural investigation. Language Studies Working Papers , 5 pp. 3-12. ISSN: 2040-3461
Pliatsikas, C. and Marinis, T. (2013) Processing empty categories in a second language: When naturalistic exposure fills the (intermediate) gap. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , 16 (1). pp. 167-182. ISSN: 1469-1841 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S136672891200017X
Pliatsikas, C. and Marinis, T. (2013) Processing of regular and irregular past tense morphology in highly proficient second language learners of English: a self-paced reading study. Applied Psycholinguistics , 34 (5). pp. 943-970. ISSN: 1469-1817 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0142716412000082

Parker-Jones, O. , Green, D. , Grogan, A. , Pliatsikas, C. , Filippopolitis, K. , Ali, N. , Lee, H. , Ramsden, S. , Gazarian, K. , Prejawa, S. , Seghier, M. , Price, C. (2012) Where, when and why brain activation differs for bilinguals and monolinguals during picture naming and reading aloud. Cerebral Cortex , 22 (4). pp. 892-902. ISSN: 1460-2199 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhr161