Louisa did her BA in German as a foreign language. Even though she enjoyed teaching tremendously, she also wanted to learn more about (neuro-)linguistic research, which is why she did the ReMa Language & Cognition in Groningen. She was involved in the PhD projects "Learning to preserve" and "Language learning never gets old" as a research assistant and intern. For her MA thesis, she investigated the cognitive influence of third-age language learning using resting-state EEG, which serves as a measure of neuroplasticity. In her thesis, she compared the EEG data of two studies, in which the length and intensity of the language training differed in order to tackle the question "How little is enough?". Though she is no longer enrolled at the RUG, she is still involved in two projects with Mara van der Ploeg concerning third-age language learning needs and a conversation analysis of the third-age classroom.
Project
Learning to preserve: Foreign language training as a cognitive “vaccine” to prevent old-age disorders?