Zaid Zada

I'm a fourth-year PhD Candidate at Princeton University working with Uri Hasson. My background education is in computer science (B.S., JMU) and machine learning (M.S., Georgia Tech).

I study language processing in the brain during natural settings using machine learning. My research focuses on how people and the brain uses language to communicate and understand each other. I'm broadly interested in the connection between how the brain and machines process language, and how we can use both to improve our understanding of the other.

Papers

A shared linguistic space for transmitting our thoughts from brain to brain in natural conversations

Zada, Z., Goldstein, A., Michelmann, S., Simony, E., Price, A., Hasenfratz, L., ... & Nastase, S.*, Hasson, U*. (2023).

bioRxiv.

Deep speech-to-text models capture the neural basis of spontaneous speech in everyday conversations language processing in the human brain

Goldstein, A., Wang, H.*, Niekerken, L.*, Zada, Z.*, Aubrey, B.*, Sheffer, T., ... & Hasson, U. (2023).

bioRxiv, 2023-06.

Correspondence between the layered structure of deep language models and temporal structure of natural language processing in the human brain

Goldstein, A.*, Ham, E.*, Nastase, S. A., Zada, Z., Grinstein-Dabus, A., Aubrey, B., ... & Hasson, U. (2022).

BioRxiv, 2022-07.

Brain embeddings with shared geometry to artificial contextual embeddings, as a code for representing language in the human brain

Goldstein, A., Dabush, A., Aubrey, B., Schain, M., Nastase, S. A., Zada, Z., ... & Hasson, U. (2022).

BioRxiv, 2022-03.

Shared computational principles for language processing in humans and deep language models

Goldstein, A., Zada, Z., Buchnik, E., Schain, M., Price, A., Aubrey, B., ... & Hasson, U. (2022).

Nature neuroscience, 25(3), 369-380.

Presentations

2023 Mapping cortical language representation during real-time natural dialogues at Society for Neuroscience conference. poster
2023 Speaker-listener neural coupling in a shared linguistic embedding space during natural conversations at Society for the Neurobiology of Language conference. talk
2022 Speaker-listener linguistic alignment in natural conversations at Princeton Neuroscience Institute annual meeting. talk
2022 Language models mediate speaker-to-listener coupling in natural conversations at Society for Neuroscience conference. poster
2022 Brain-to-brain linguistic coupling in natural conversations at Conference on Cognitive Computational Neuroscience. poster
2021 Biased media reshapes the meaning of words in natural language at Six College Conference. data-blitz

Awards

2023 Graduate Student Merit Award from Society for the Neurobiology of Language.
2012 CS Exceptional Graduate Award from James Madison University.
2012 CS Dennis Ritche Award from James Madison University.

Software

macOS

brewlet. Menulet app to auto-update or alert you when new brew packages are available
caffeinate. A macOS menulet that keeps your mac awake
schedule-shortcut. A shortcut that can schedule your macOS shortcuts to run automatically on predefined schedule
brewlet-mini. This is a shortcut that will check for updated packages from brew and ask if you want to update them.

Media

JMU Alumni Newsletter Spotlight