Christos Pliatsikas

I completed my studies in Psychology at Pantion University (Athens, Greece) (2003), followed by an MSc in Clinical Neurosciences at UCL (2005), and my PhD in Grammatical Processing in Second Language Learners at the University of Reading (2010). In 2010 I joined the Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics (CINN- University of Reading) as a Postdoctoral Research Assistant. After that, I took a Research Fellow position at the University of Birmingham (2011), and I subsequently returned to the CINN in the role of the MRI Operations Manager (2012). In 2013 I joined the School of Psychology at the University of Kent as a Lecturer in Cognitive Psychology, and in August 2015 I returned to the University of Reading as a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Psycholinguistics in Bi-/Multilinguals at the School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences.
My research background is in the fields of Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, with a focus on bilingual acquisition and processing, investigated with behavioural and MRI techniques. My research interests include: How is learning of additional languages reflected at the brain level? Is the brain structure and function affected by the experience of learning and using a second language? What are the advantages of bilingualism in relation to language processing, general cognition and brain function? How are morphology and syntax represented and processed in the bilingual brain? Do second language learners achieve native-like morphological and syntactic processing? If so, what is the importance of factors such as linguistic immersion and proficiency?