Dr Bo Yao
Senior LecturerResearch Overview
Research Interests
My research dives deep into the cognitive neuroscience of language and inner speech. I focus on unraveling the neural mechanisms that underlie the diverse phenomenology and functions of inner speech. Specifically, I investigate how inner speech encodes language meaning and structure to influence cognition and how it can account for unusual experiences like voice-hearing and auditory verbal hallucinations in a predictive coding framework. This work has broader implications for understanding the neural basis of language, cognition, and mental health. To tackle these questions, I use a diverse toolkit of methods including mixed effects modelling, EEG, s/fMRI, eye tracking, neurostimulation, and computational modelling. I am open to supervising PhD projects in the areas of language cognition and inner speech, using a variety of techniques such as reaction times, eye tracking, EEG, and fMRI.
Please visit the Language, Inner Speech, and Neuroscience (LISN) Lab for more details.
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Decoding Inner Speech with Neurophysiological Insights and Explainable AI (Decoding Inner Speech AI)
15/10/2025 → 14/01/2028
Research
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Laying the Groundwork for EEG Classification of Auditory Verbal Hallucinations: Multi-Objective Feature Attribution in Explainable Machine Learning for Inner Speech
01/10/2024 → 30/09/2026
Research
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Can a silent mind know thyself? The role of inner speech in self-awareness
01/03/2023 → 31/05/2025
Research
Cognitive Psychology, Neuroscience and Neurocognition
- Neuroscience and Neurocognition