Assistant Professor
Ph.D. Dartmouth College
Area: Developmental
Contact Information
Email: kovelman@umich.edu
Psychology Office: 2038 East Hall
Psychology Phone: 734-647-3712
Research and Teaching Interests
My research interests are in language and reading development in monolingual and bilingual infants, children, and adults. My work includes both typical and atypical language and reading development using a variety of behavioral and brain imaging methods (fMRI, fNIRS).
Representative Publications
Kovelman I., Mascho, K., Mastic, A., Millot, L., Moisseff, B., & Shalinsky, M. H. (2012). At the rhythm of language: Brain bases of language-related frequency perception in children. NeuroImage, 60(1), 673-682.
Kovelman, I, Yip, J. C., & Beck E. L. (2011). Cortical systems that process language, as revealed by non-native speech sound perception. Neuro Report, 22(18):947-50.
Kovelman, I., Norton E. S., Gaab, N., Christodoulou J. A., Triantafyllou, C., Lieberman D. A., Lymberis, J., Witfield-Gabrieli, S., Wolf, M., & Gabrieli J. D. E.(2011). Brain bases of phonological awareness for spoken language in children and its dysfunction in dyslexia. Cerebral Cortex.
Shalinsky, M. S., Kovelman, I., Berens, M. S., & Petitto L. A. (2009).
Exploring Cognitive Functions in Babies, Children & Adults with Near Infrared Spectroscopy. Journal of Visualized Experiments. Available in a movie format at http://www.jove.com/
Kovelman, I., Shalinsky, M.H., White, K., Berens, M., Schmitt, S., Palmer L., & Petitto, L.A. (2009). Dual language use in sign-speech bimodal bilinguals using fNIRS Brain-Imaging. Brain & Language, 109(2-3), 112-123.
Kovelman, I., Shalinsky, M. S., Berens, M. S., & Petitto L. A. (2008). Shining new light on the brain’s “Bilingual Signature:” A functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy investigation of semantic processing.
NeuroImage, 39(3), 1457-1471.
Kovelman, I., Baker, S. A., & Petitto, L.A. (2008). Bilingual and monolingual brains compared using fMRI: Is there a neurological signature of bilingualism? Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 20(1), 1-17.
Kovelman, I., Baker, S.A., & Petitto, L.A. (2008). Age of bilingual language exposure as a new window into bilingual reading development. Bilingualism: Language & Cognition, 11(2), 203–223.
Mark H. Shalinsky1, Iouila Kovelman1, Melody S. Berens2, Laura-Ann Petitto2 1Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Scarborough
Here we describe a data collection and data analysis method for functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS), a novel non-invasive brain imaging system used in cognitive neuroscience, particularly in studying child brain development. This method provides a universal standard of data acquisition and analysis vital to data interpretation and scientific discovery.
Assistant Professor