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Meaghan Perdue, PhD

Killam Postdoctoral Fellow

Department of Radiology

University of Calgary

Cumming School of Medicine

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Meaghan Perdue

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscientist

meaghan.perdue at ucalgary.ca

About

About

What aspects of brain structure and function change during childhood?

When and how do these changes occur?

 

Which specific neurobiological features are associated with cognition?

Do brain-cognition associations change across development? 

I apply Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) techniques to explore these questions and generate knowledge about brain development and the neurobiological foundations of complex cognitive traits such as reading ability in typical development and in the presence of prenatal exposures and neurodevelopmental conditions.

Publications

Recent Publications & Preprints

Perdue, M.V., Geeraert, B.L., Manning, K.Y., Dewey, D., & Lebel, C. (under review). Phonological decoding ability is associated with fiber density of the left arcuate fasciculus across reading development in typically developing children. Preprint: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.09.24.614799

Perdue, M.V., Ghasoub, M., Long, M., DeMayo, M.M., Bell, T.K., McMorris, C.A., Dewey, D., Gibbard, W.B., Tortorelli, C., Harris, A.D., & Lebel, C. (revision submitted). Altered brain metabolite levels and links to cognition in young children exposed to alcohol in utero. Preprint: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.05.06.592786

Giesbrecht, G.F., van de Wouw, M., Watts, D., Perdue, M.V., Graham, S., Lai, B., Tomfohr-Madsen, L., & Lebel, C. (2024). Language learning in the context of a global pandemic: Proximal and distal factors matter. Pediatric Research. doi: 10.1038/s41390-024-03583-9

Ghasoub, M., Perdue, M. V., Long, X., Donnici, C., Dewey, D. & Lebel, C. (2024). Structural neural connectivity correlates with pre-reading abilities in preschool children. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 65, 101332. doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101332

Perdue, M. V., DeMayo, M. M., Bell, T. K., Boudes, E., Bagshawe, M., Harris, A. D., & Lebel, C. (2023). Changes in brain metabolite levels across childhood. NeuroImage, 274, 120087. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120087

Perdue, M. V., Mahaffy, K., Vlahcevic, K., Wolfman, E., Erbeli, F., Richlan, F., & Landi, N. (2022). Reading intervention and neuroplasticity: A systematic review and meta-analysis of brain changes associated with reading intervention. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 132, 465-494. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.11.011

Koirala, N., Perdue, M. V., Su, X., Grigorenko, E. L., & Landi, N. (2021). Neurite density and arborization is associated with reading skill and phonological processing in children. NeuroImage, 241, 118426. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118426

*Mascheretti, S., *Perdue, M. V., Feng, B., Andreola, C. Dionne, G., Jasińska, K. K., Pugh, K. R., & Landi., N. (2020). From BDNF to reading: Neural activation and phonological processing as multiple mediators. Behavioural Brain Research, 396, 112859. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhaa126

*indicates equivalent contribution.

Perdue, M.V., Mednick, J., Pugh, K. & Landi, N. (2020). Gray matter structure is associated with reading skill in typically developing young readers. Cerebral Cortex, 30(10), 5449-5459. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhaa126

Yu, X., Zuk, J., Perdue, M. V., Ozernov‐Palchik, O., Raney, T., Beach, S. D., ... & Gaab, N. (2020). Putative protective neural mechanisms in prereaders with a family history of dyslexia who subsequently develop typical reading skills. Human Brain Mapping, 41(10), 2827-2845. doi: 10.1002/hbm.24980

Landi, N., & Perdue, M. V. (2019). Neuroimaging genetics studies of specific reading disability and developmental language disorder: A review. Language and linguistics compass, 13(9), e12349. doi: 10.1111/lnc3.12349

 

Perdue, M. V.*, Mascheretti, S.*, Kornilov, S. A., Jasińska, K. K., Ryherd, K., Mencl, W. E., ... & Landi, N. (2019). Common variation within the SETBP1 gene is associated with reading-related skills and patterns of functional neural activation. Neuropsychologia, 130, 44-51. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.07.015

*indicates equivalent contribution.

Education

2016 -- 2021

University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT

Doctor of Philosophy, Psychological Sciences, 2021

Graduate Certificate in the Neurobiology of Language, 2020

Master of Science, Developmental Psychology, 2018

2010 -- 2014

Emmanuel College, Boston, MA

Bachelor of Arts, Summa Cum Laude

Psychology, concentration in neuroscience

Minor: Spanish

Experience

2016 - 2021

Graduate Fellow

LandiLab

University of Connecticut

Department of Psychological Sciences

2014 -- 2016

Research Assistant & Coordinator

Gaab Lab

Boston Children's Hospital

Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience

2012 -- 2014

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Cognition Lab

Emmanuel College, Boston, MA

Education & Experience

Expertise & Skills

Brain development

Neuroimaging: MRI

Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (measuring brain metabolism)

Neurobiology of reading and language

Neuroimaging genetics

Reading/Dyslexia

Statistics

Software:

  • R

  • SPSS

Longitudinal Data Analysis:

  • Linear Mixed Effects Modeling

  • Structural Equation Modeling

Neuroimaging

Structural MRI analysis: 

  • Freesurfer

  • FSL

  • HCP Connectome Workbench

Diffusion MRI analysis:​

  • FSL - FDT/TBSS

  • AFQ

  • MRtrix3

Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy:​

  • LCModel

  • FID-A

Functional MRI analysis:​

  • AFNI

  • FSL

  • SPM

Expertise & Skills
Awards & Interests

Awards & Grants

Postdoctoral:

  • Co-Investigator - Canadian Institutes of Health Research Operating Grant: Data Analysis Using Existing Databases and Cohorts.
    Grant title: Uncovering the neurobiological underpinnings of learning to read and reading disorders. Value CA$75,000.

  • Honourary Killam Postdoctoral Fellowship - University of Calgary

  • Owerko Centre Trainee Publication Award, Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute

  • University of Calgary Eyes High Postdoctoral Fellowship

Graduate:

  • NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

  • NSF IGERT Language Plasticity Fellowship, University of Connecticut

  • Isabelle Y. Liberman Award, University of Connecticut

  • IGERT Innovation Grant, University of Connecticut   

  • IGERT International Research Experience Award, University of Connecticut

Undergraduate:

  • Distinction in the Field of Psychology, Emmanuel College

  • Summa Cum Laude Honors, Emmanuel College Class of 2014

  • Birnbaum Scholarship, Society for Computers in Psychology

  • Emmanuel College Honors Award Grant for Research and Creative Activities

Affiliations 

University of Calgary:

Department of Radiology, Cumming School of Medicine

Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute

Owerko Centre for Neurodevelopment and Child Mental Health

Hotchkiss Brain Institute

Killam Laureates

Scientific Societies:

Flux Society

Organization for Human Brain Mapping

International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine

Society for the Neurobiology of Language 

I'd love to hear
from you!

meaghan.perdue at ucalgary.ca

@mvperduephd.bsky.social

© 2020 By Meaghan Perdue. Proudly created with Wix.com

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