Silke Coemans

Silke Coemans is an FWO Research Fellow and PhD candidate in Neurolinguistics at the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, affiliated with the Brussels Centre for Language Studies and Department of Linguistics and Literary Studies. Her work bridges neuroscience, linguistics, and aging research, focusing on bilingualism's impact on neurodegenerative diseases.

Education:

• Master in Biomedical Sciences: Neurosciences, University of Antwerp (2016-2018)
• PhD in Neurolinguistics (in progress), Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Her research centers on Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA), bilingualism, and transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) interventions. She investigates how cerebellar tDCS combined with language therapy affects neural pathways and executive functions in bilingual PPA patients, exploring potential protective effects of bilingualism against dementia symptoms. Current projects examine the "linguistic cerebellum" in phonological processing.

Recent publications reveal a concentrated focus on tDCS applications for bilingual aphasia rehabilitation across neurodegenerative and post-stroke contexts, alongside methodological contributions through systematic reviews on idiom comprehension in aphasia.

Scientific Awards:

• PhD Day Brussels Centre for Language Studies: Best Poster Award (2022)

Funded by the Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO), Coemans leads project FWOTM1214 (2024-2027) on cerebellar involvement in language processing and collaborates on the Primary Progressive Aphasia Scientific Research Network (2025-2029). Her grant portfolio emphasizes neurostimulation techniques for language rehabilitation in multilingual populations.

She operates within the Brussels Centre for Language Studies research ecosystem, collaborating with Prof. Stefanie Keulen's team on neuroimaging and language therapy protocols for PPA, with active participation in international stuttering research symposia and methodology workshops.