Noelia Calvo

As a Linguist and PhD in Psychology, my research program examines how individual differences in cognition, social factors, biological sex and linguistic diversity impact brain plasticity in the adult brain. My research program deals with a great diversity not only in theories but also in methods. It integrates linguistics, psychology, biology, and cognitive neuroscience. This approach results in a more profound understanding of human language processing, links to cognition, aging, dementia, and its relationship with other psychosocial factors. Summary of previous research During my PhD. in Argentina, I studied multilingualism as a reserve proxy. I finished my PhD at a multidisciplinary neurology center in Buenos Aires where I worked with neurologists, biologists, psychologists, physicists, and engineers. Relevant work from my PhD position are review articles (e.g. Calvo et al., 2016) in which I discuss confounding variables associated to bilingualism and dementia, and also a lesion study (Calvo et al., 2019). The latter was about a a female 44-year-old patient who was bilingual and who suffered from two strokes which affected both the right and left hemisphere. Against this background, the patient showed preservation of verbal skills in both languages. Remarkably, the patient reported an even better understanding in her second language (English). This was one of the first cases of brain plasticity and compensation I could witness in the clinic, and it inspired me to continue investigating the role of multilingualism on pathological conditions. Indeed, my PhD. thesis led me to a postdoctoral position with the pioneer in the field of multilingualism and dementia, Prof. Ellen Bialystok in Canada. Under Prof. Bialystok’s supervision, I was able to research multilingualism and dementia. I was also able to polish my skills in multivariate analysis and machine learning. Overall, during my PhD and first postdoctoral position I gained experience in EEG (ERP, frequency, connectivity, reactivity), MRI (cortical thickness, VBM, DTI), univariate/ multivariate analysis and machine learning. Moreover, I identified sex/gender differences as a variable of interest in the language and dementia field. I analyzed how females may benefit from verbal processing and how this might impact cognitive reserve. This was a fascinating pilot study that was presented at the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society (2022). Moreover, this project led me to a second postdoctoral position under the supervision of Prof. Gillian Einstein who is a worldwide expert and Canadian leader in women’s health. We have recently won an award and support to continue investigating this question. Current research Under Dr. Einstein’s supervision, I am currently researching how linguistic diversity, sex and cultural differences impact aging and dementia. I am also integrating into my research other body processes, hormones and genes. The pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease is still unclear, but it is altered by changes in sex hormones (e.g., loss of estradiol during menopause), genetic profile (e.g., ɛ4 allele of Apolipoprotein E), non-modifiable risk factors (e.g., diabetes, cardiovascular disease, ovarian removal, etc.), modifiable ones (e.g., smoking, and physical inactivity) and protective lifestyle factors (e.g., education, multilingualism). My first step has been to understand the interaction between multilingualism and sex differences in aging. My results indicate that there might be an interaction between both variables on Cognitive reserve. But, do other risk and resilience factors also interact? If so, what does this mean for health equity and dementia research? These are some of the questions that I’m studying under the supervision of Prof. Gillian Einstein.