Vicky Tzuyin Lai

Lai joined the University of Arizona faculty in 2016 and currently serves as an associate professor with a shared appointment in the Department of Psychology and the Cognitive Science Program. She is also the Interim Director of Cognitive Science. 

A cognitive neuroscientist by training, Lai directs the Cognitive Neuroscience of Language Laboratory, where her research explores how the brain processes figurative language, how language and emotion interact across the lifespan, and how bilingualism shapes perception and action. Her work is supported by the National Science Foundation and private foundations. She is an elected fellow of the Psychonomic Society and received the 2023 UA College of Science Distinguished Mentoring Award.

Lai has been featured in NPR’s Science Friday for her research on metaphors and mood, as well as on the Grammar Girl podcast and at the Flandrau Science Center and Planetarium.