Generally speaking, I am interested in human cognition, especially the ability to put thoughts into words, i.e., language production. My special interest is in how this extremely complex process can be carried out so efficiently and effortlessly. I believe understanding the interaction between the monitoring and control systems and the language production system is the key to answering this question. This endeavor naturally leads to questions of “domain-generality”, i.e., how much does the language production system have in common with the rest of cognition in terms of being efficiently monitored and controlled?
I am also interested in understanding different states of the language production system and how they differ from those of neurotypical adults. These include the state of the language production system in children and stroke survivors, and changes to these systems over the course of development or recovery from stroke.
Aside from cognitive science, I’m interested in literature (special interest in Japanese, Russian, and Hungarian literature, as well as classic and modern Persian poetry), political philosophy (with special interests in the ancient Greek history and origins of Western modernism, European 19th and early 20th century history and the rise of imperialism and totalitarianism, as well as the parallel history of that era in the Middle East and the contemporary history of Iran), music (I'm a Soprano-in-training), and visual and performing arts.
