Dave Corina: ASL, Cochlear Implants, and Haptics

Dave Corina's research focuses on understanding the cognitive and neural mechanisms of language processing, primarily through hands-on studies of sign language, aphasia patients, and cochlear implant recipients. There are many current projects that are at various stages of development, so be sure to reach out for more details if some of them are of interest to you. 

First, the main branch of his research encompasses multiple branches of cochlear implants and their underlying neural correlates. He is interested in how children with cochlear implants process auditory and visual information. He uses brain-based procedures to see how different experiences using a cochlear implant influence language and cognitive ability in an attempt to measure the effect of experience on how a child’s brain processes such information in multiple modalities. Much of this work is longitudinal in nature and heavily involves signed languages like ASL. 

Next, alongside a PhD student Anna Boyer who spearheaded the work, Dave Corina is currently completing a project on conduction aphasia in a native signer of ASL. Conduction aphasia is a certain type of language impairment where production and comprehension of language are not severely impacted, but repetition of language is. The two researchers on this project examined the extent to which conduction aphasia manifested when compared to spoken languages; very similar trends emerged. There are very consistent patterns of phonetic errors in conduction aphasia of ASL that closely mirror those in spoken language. 

Finally, a new state of the art "Rokoko smartsuit II," which serves as a new way to capture the motion involved in ASL, is another avenue of research that Dave Corina is undertaking. The suit automatically collects limb position and velocity data from a signer for more precise measurements of how signs are executed. He is currently working to assemble a bank of ASL stimuli composed of signs, sentences, and actions which can be used for future EEG studies. The current interest is to examine the role of postures (eg. signs which make contact with the body) in ASL processing. In addition to this new suit, he is also exploring haptics technology that can be used to turn vibration of sound waves into physical sensations that can be used for hearing-impaired individuals.