Dr. Katy Borodkin

 Senior Lecturer, Department of Communication Disorders, School of Health Professions, Sackler Faculty of Medicine

 

 

Language Processing in Healthy and Brain-Damaged Bilingual Speakers

Many individuals in the contemporary society are required to use more than one language in everyday life. Research in my laboratory focuses on these speakers and explores processes related to adult language learning, representation, processing, and breakdown. We apply behavioral, neuroimaging (fMRI), and neuromodulation (tDCS) methods, both in healthy adults and in individuals with a language disorder following brain damage, such as aphasia. Current projects in the lab address the following questions:

1. What determines the differences among individuals in how successful they are in learning a second language? In one project, we study the interplay between auditory and motor systems in predicting the ability to acquire a foreign language pronunciation. 
2. How using a language (to speak, listen, write or read) is different in native vs non-native language?  The conditions under which second language acquisition occurs are often less than ideal; for instance, second language is often acquired at an older age and used less frequently than the native language. In our lab, we have been investigating how these acquisition circumstances may affect the organization of lexical-semantic knowledge and the processing of words by the left and the right cerebral hemispheres. 
3. What are the patterns and the mechanisms of language impairment and language recovery in bilingual and multilingual speakers? Some bilinguals with aphasia regain control of both languages in parallel, while in others language recovery is non-parallel (e.g., one language may be more impaired than the other, despite comparable premorbid proficiency). Our research aims at elucidating the factors predicting recovery patterns in these speakers and examines the cross-language effects of treatment on communicative abilities. We also study the interplay between neurobiological factors (such as the specific localization of the brain insult) and environmental factors (such as language proficiency) in determining spontaneous and treatment-induced neuroplasticity and its relevance to communicative abilities.

Dagan, Y., & Borodkin, K. (2004). The ineffectiveness of magnotherapy in a patient with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and cardiovascular comorbidity. Sleep and Breathing, 8(4), 209-212. 

 

Borodkin, K., Ayalon, L., Kanety, H., & Dagan, Y. (2005). Dysregulation of circadian rhythms following prolactin-secreting pituitary microadenoma. Chronobiology International, 22(1), 145-156.

 

Dagan, Y., & Borodkin, K. (2005). Behavioral and psychiatric consequences of sleep-wake schedule disorders. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 7(4), 357-365. 

 

Szeinberg, A., Borodkin, K., & Dagan, Y. (2006). Melatonin treatment in adolescents with delayed sleep phase syndrome. Clinical Pediatrics (Phila), 45(9), 809-818.

 

Ayalon, L., Borodkin, K., Dishon, L., Kanety, H., & Dagan, Y. (2007). Circadian rhythm sleep disorders following mild traumatic brain injury. Neurology, 68(14), 1136-1140. 

 

Borodkin, K., & Faust, M. (2013). Tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) states and cross-linguistic transfer. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 16(4), 914-923. 

 

Borodkin, K., & Faust, M. (2014). Native language phonological skills in low-proficiency second language learners. Language Learning, 64(1), 132-159.

 

Borodkin, K., & Faust, M. (2014). Naming abilities in low-proficiency second language learners. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 47(3), 237-253. 

 

Mashal, N., Borodkin, K., Maliniak, O., & Faust, M. (2015). Hemispheric involvement in native and non-native comprehension of conventional metaphors. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 35, 96-108. 

 

Levy, T., Bloch, Y., Gat-Yablonski, G., Bar-Maisels, M., Djalovski, A., Borodkin, K., Apter, A. S. (2015). Salivary oxytocin in adolescents with conduct disorder and callous-unemotional traits. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 24(12), 1543-1551.

 

Borodkin, K., Kenett, Y., Faust, M., & Mashal, N. (2016). When pumpkin is closer to onion than to squash: The , structure of the second language lexicon. Cognition, 156, 60-70.  

 

Borodkin, K., Maliniak, O., & Faust, M. (2017). Exploring the nature of phonological weakness in low-proficiency second language learners. Learning and Individual Differences, 57, 133-140.

 

Levy, T., Apter, A., Djalovski, A., Peskina,M., Silvana, F., Gat-Yablonski, G., Bar-Maisels, M., Borodkin, K., Bloch, Y. (2017). The reliability and predictive utility of the self-report version of the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits in adolescents with conduct disorder.  Psychiatry Research, 256, 124-129.

 

Stephan, E., Faust, M., & Borodkin, K.  (2018). The role of psychological distancing in appreciation of art: How does native versus foreign language context affect responses to abstract and representational art? Acta Psychologica, 186, 71-80.

 

Patel, S., Borodkin, K., Faust, M. (2018). Developmental changes in hemispheric processing of ambiguous words during adolescence. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 47, 50-58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneuroling.2018.02.007

 

Conner, P. S., Goral, M., Anema, I., Borodkin, K., Haendler, Y., Knoph, M., Mustelier, C., Paluska, E., Pugach, Y., Moeyaert, M. (2018). The role of language proficiency and linguistic distance in cross-linguistic treatment effects in aphasia. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 32(8), 739-757. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699206.2018.1435723

 

Lerman, A., Pazuelo, L., Kizner, L., Borodkin, K., & Goral, M. (2019). Language mixing patterns in a bilingual with non-fluent aphasia. Aphasiology,  33(9), 1137-1153. https://doi.org/10.1080/02687038.2018.1546821

 

Borodkin, K., Goral, M., & Kemper, D. (2020). Measuring performance stability in persons with aphasia: Identical versus comparable testing forms. Aphasiology, 34(3),  376-390.

 

Borodkin, K., Livny, A., Kushnir, T., Tsarfaty, G., Maliniak, O., & Faust, M. (2021). Linking L2 proficiency and patterns of functional

connectivity during L1 word retrieval. Brain and Language. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2021.104931

 

Lederer, Y., Artzi, H., & Borodkin, K. (2021). The effects of maternal smartphone use on mother-child interaction. Child Development. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13715

 

Ershaid, H., Mashal, N., & Borodkin, K. (2022). Hemispheric involvement in the comprehension of conventional metaphors in Arabic-Hebrew

speakers. International Journal of Bilingualism. https://doi.org/10.1177/13670069211057634

 

Borodkin, K., Gassner, T., Ershaid, H. et al. (2022). tDCS modulates speech perception and production in second language learners. Scientific Reports, 12, 16212. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-20512-0

Chapter in Books

Dagan, Y., Borodkin, K., & Ayalon, L. (2005). Advanced, delayed, irregular, and free-running sleep-wake disorders. In T. Lee-Chiong (Ed.), Sleep: A Comprehensive Handbook, pp. 383-389. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc

 

Dagan, Y., & Borodkin, K. (2008). Diagnostic algorithm for circadian rhythm sleep disorders (CRSD). In C. Kushida (Ed.), Handbook of Sleep Disorders (2nd ed.), pp. 175-191. New York: Informa Healthcare

 

Dagan, Y., & Borodkin, K., & Ayalon, L. (2009). Circadian rhythm sleep disorders. In T. Lee-Chiong (Ed.), Sleep Medicine Essentials, pp. 115-120. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell

 

Borodkin, K., & Dagan, Y. (2009). Circadian rhythm disorders. In J. W. Winkelman & D. T. Plante (Eds.), Foundations of Psychiatric Sleep Medicine, pp. 186-201. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press

 

Borodkin, K., & Faust, M. (2012). Word retrieval in developmental language impairments: Application of the tip-of-the-tongue paradigm. In M. Faust (Ed.), The Handbook of the Neuropsychology of Language, pp. 963-982. Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.