Dr. Tan's main research interest is to use neuroimaging (fMRI and PET) and cognitive techniques to investigate neuroanatomical and cognitive mechanisms underlying language processing, language learning, memory, and attention. The studies conducted by Dr. Tan and his collaborators have shown that the left middle frontal gyrus responsible for verbal working memory critically mediates Chinese character recognition, whereas the left posterior temporoparietal regions critical for English reading are less involved in Chinese reading. He also demonstrated that the neural systems for Chinese and English reading are shaped by learning experience of the two written languages and that activity levels of the left middle frontal cortex serve as a neurobiological marker of Chinese dyslexia. His current work is focused on the study of functions of left middle frontal gyrus in Chinese reading and how language interacts with perception at the neuroanatomical level.

Dr. Tan received his Ph.D. in psycholinguistics from the University of Hong Kong in 1995. Following a post-doctoral research training in Learning Research and Development Center of the University of Pittsburgh, he started to work in this University in 1999. In the past few years, Dr. Tan has performed research in the field of reading and reading disorders at the University of Hong Kong, the Research Imaging Center of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, University of Pittsburgh, and Intramural Research Programs of the National Institute of Mental Health of NIH. Dr. Tan is a Professor of Psycholinguistics in the School of Humanities. He founded the State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the University of Hong Kong in 2005 and now serves as its Co-Director. He is also an adjunct Associate Professor of Department of Pediatrics at Georgetown University Medical Center and adjunct Professor of Chinese Academy of Sciences Graduate School. He currently serves as an associate editor of the journal Human Brain Mapping and an editorial board member of Neuroscience and Journal of Neurolinguistics.

Siok, W.T., Niu, Z.D., Jin, Z., Perfetti, C.A., & Tan, L.H. (2008). A structural-functional basis for dyslexia in the cortex of Chinese readers. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 105, 5561-5566. (pdf)   Media Coverage

Chan, A.H.D., Luke, K.K., Li, P., Yip, V., Li, G., Weekes, B., & Tan, L.H. (2008). Neural correlates of nouns and verbs in early bilinguals. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 1145: 30-40. (pdf)

Tan, L.H., Chan, A.H.D., Kay, P., Khong, P.L., Yip, L.K., Luke, K.K. (2008). Language affects patterns of brain activation associated with perceptual decision. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 105, 4004-4009. (pdf)   Media Coverage

Tan, L.H., Spinks, J.A., Eden, G., Perfetti, C.A., & Siok, W.T. (2005). Reading depends on writing, in Chinese. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 102, 8781-8785. (pdf) Media coverage

Tan, L.H., Laird, A., Li, K., & Fox, P.T. (2005). Neuroanatomical correlates of phonological processing of Chinese characters and alphabetic words: A meta-analysis. Human Brain Mapping, 25, 83-91. (pdf)

Siok, W.T., Perfetti, C.A., Jin, Z., & Tan, L.H. (2004). Biological abnormality of impaired reading is constrained by culture. Nature, 431: 71-76. (pdf) Media coverage

Tan, L.H., Spinks, J.A., Gao, J.H., Liu, A., Perfetti, C.A., Xiong, J., Pu, Y., Liu, Y., Stofer, K.A., & Fox, P.T. (2000). Brain activation in the processing of Chinese characters and words: A functional MRI study. Human Brain Mapping, 10, 16-27. (pdf)

To see a full list of Dr. Tan's publications, please click here.