Academic Staff
- GH149
- +852 2766 5562
- manson.cm.fong@polyu.edu.hk
- NeuroLinguistics and Cognition Laboratory (NLC Lab)
ORCID ID
SCOPUS ID
Google Scholar
Research GateBiography
Dr Manson C-M. Fong is a Research Assistant Professor affiliated with the Department of Language Science and Technology. He graduated with a PhD in Electronic Engineering from The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2016. He began his neurolinguistic career studying Cantonese vowel perception and Chinese character recognition. Since joining PolyU, his research has geared towards studying the impact of ageing on language functions and the linguistic functions of the cerebellum. He has used a variety of experimental techniques, including behavioral experiments, EEG, and more recently, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI).
His current research covers several topics: (1) the brain mechanisms behind semantic processing, morphological processing, and verbal working memory; (2) how these mechanisms are modulated by aging and language experience; & (3) how language performance is associated with cognitive functions such as working memory, episodic memory, and inhibitory control. He is also interested in developing deep learning models of language and cognitive functions based on structural, functional, and diffusion MRI images. It is hoped that through the lens of language and cognitive behaviors, these models will contribute to the early detection, monitoring, and intervention for dementia.
He is a member of various research institutes and centres, namely, Research Institute for Smart Ageing (RISA), Mental Health Research Center (MHRC), and Research Centre for Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience (RCLCN).
Education and Academic Qualifications
- PhD in Electronic Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Academic and Professional Experience
Peer Reviewers for academic journals (Cognitive Psychology, Frontiers in Psychology, Psychological Research, Speech Communication, International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, Brain and Language, Journal of Neurological Sciences, Neuropsychology, Scientific Reports, Cerebral Cortex)
Teaching Area
- Neurolinguistics
- Statistical methods in language research.
Research Interests
Selected Publications
- Hui, N.-Y., Fong, M. C-M., & Wang, W. S. (2022). Bilingual prefabs: No switching cost was found in cantonese–english habitual code-switching in Hong Kong. Languages, 7(3), 198. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages7030198
- Fong, M. C-M., Ma, M. K-H., Chui, J. Y. T., Law, T. S. T., Hui, N. Y., Au, A., & Wang, W. S. (2022). Foreign language learning in older adults: anatomical and cognitive markers of vocabulary learning success. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 16, 787413. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2022.787413
- Ma, M. K-H., Fong, M. C-M., Xie, C., Lee, T., Chen, G., & Wang, W. S. (2021). Regularity and randomness in ageing: Differences in resting-state EEG complexity measured by largest Lyapunov exponent. Neuroimage: Reports, 1(4), 100054. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ynirp.2021.100054
- Fong, M. C-M., Law, T. S.-T., Ma, M. K-H., Hui, N. Y., & Wang, W. S. (2021). Can inhibition deficit hypothesis account for age-related differences in semantic fluency? Converging evidence from Stroop color and word test and an ERP flanker task. Brain and Language, 218, 104952. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2021.104952
- Fong, M. C-M., Hui, N. Y., Fung, E. S-W., Ma, M. K-H., Law, T. S.-T., Wang, X., & Wang, W. S. (2020). Which cognitive functions subserve clustering and switching in category fluency? Generalisations from an extended set of semantic categories using linear mixed-effects modelling. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 73(12), 2132-2147. https://doi.org/10.1177/1747021820957135
- Hui, N.-Y., Yuan, M., Fong, M. C-M., & Wang, W. S-Y. (2020). L2 proficiency predicts inhibitory ability in L1-dominant speakers. International Journal of Bilingualism, 24(5-6), 984-998. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367006920914399
- Fong, M. C-M., Hui, N. Y., Fung, E. S-W., Chu, P. C. K., & Wang, W. S-Y. (2018). Conflict monitoring in multi-sensory flanker tasks: Effects of cross-modal distractors on the N2 component. Neuroscience letters, 670, 31-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2018.01.037
- Zhou, L., Fong, M. C-M., Minett, J. W., Peng, G., & Wang, W. S. (2014). Pre-lexical phonological processing in reading Chinese characters: An ERP study. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 30, 14-26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneuroling.2014.03.002
- Fong, M. C-M., Ma, M. K-H., Ng, X. S-W., Liu, J. C. H., Waye, M. M. Y., Chien, W. T., & Wang, W. S. (2025). Regional Brain Age Measures Based on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs)-Symmetry Properties and Associations with Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence. In Proceedings of The 47th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. https://doi.org/10.1109/embc58623.2025.11252950
- Ma, M. K-H., Fong, M. C-M., & Wang, W. S. (2025). A Reliability Study in Resting-state EEG Network Characteristics: Frequency of Interest, Number of Oscillatory Cycles and Thresholding. In Proceedings of The 47th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. https://doi.org/10.1109/embc58623.2025.11251614
- Fong, M. C-M., Liu, J. C. H., Ma, M. K-H., Ng, X. S-W., Hui, C. L. L., Waye, M. M. Y., Chien, W. T., & Wang, W. S. (2025). Predicting Intelligence Profile and Brain Age with Single-and Dual-Channel CNNs: A Study Based on Human Connectome Projects. In Proceedings of 2025 IEEE 22nd International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging (ISBI). https://doi.org/10.1109/ISBI60581.2025.10981090
- Ng, X. S-W., Fong, M. C-M., & Wang, W. S. (2025). The Influence of Handedness on White Matter Microstructure: Investigation of Quantitative Anisotropy Based on the Human Connectome Project. In Proceedings of 2025 IEEE 22nd International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging (ISBI). https://doi.org/10.1109/ISBI60581.2025.10980763
- Ma, M. K-H., Lee, T., Fong, M. C-M., & Wang, W. S. (2020). Resting-state EEG-based biometrics with signals features extracted by multivariate empirical mode decomposition. In Proceedings of 2020 IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing (ICASSP). https://doi.org/10.1109/ICASSP40776.2020.9054351
- Fong, M. C-M., Minett, J. W., Blu, T., & Wang, W. S-Y. (2014). Towards a neural measure of perceptual distance-classification of electroencephalographic responses to synthetic vowels. In Proceedings of InterSpeech 2014. https://doi.org/10.21437/Interspeech.2014-556
- Fong, M. C-M., Minett, J. W., Blu, T., & Wang, W. S-Y. (2012). Brain--computer interface (BCI) is it strictly necessary to use random sequences in visual spellers? In Proceedings of the 10th Asia Pacific Conference on Computer Human Interaction. https://doi.org/10.1145/2350046.2350071
- 2024 - 2026
Principal Investigator, Group-level and individual-level precision functional mapping of the linguistic cerebellum: comparisons across linguistic and motor domains. RGC GRF (Project No. 15609423) - 2022 - 2025
Principal Investigator, Assessing the scope of expertise-driven advantages in bimodal and unimodal bilinguals: a comparison of signed and spoken language interpreters (Original PI: Min-hua Liu). RGC GRF (Project No. 12609821) - 2023 - 2028
Principal Investigator, The Proactive Brain Health Project: Cognitive–linguistic, Brain and Epigenetic Age Biomarkers of Normal Ageing and Alzheimer’s Disease (Original PI: William Shiyuan Wang). Sin Wai Kin Foundation Limited and RGC Research Matching Grant Scheme (Project No. P0043436) - 2024 - 2027
Principal Investigator, Representation of action meanings in left-handers with left hemisphere language dominance: a litmus test of the embodiment. RISA Top-up Grant for Successful External Grant for RAP (Project No. P0050736) - 2023 - 2026
Principal Investigator, The neuroanatomy of L3 acquisition: a six-month language booster for beginning learners of Italian. Departmental General Research Fund (Project No. P0046372)
- 2023 - 2025
Principal Investigator, How does the cerebellum contribute to language learning? A linguistic extension of the internal models account. Faculty Reserve, Faculty of Humanities (Project No. P0043558) - 2019 - 2022
Co-Investigator, Neurocognitive bases of immediate learning success and lexical consolidation of second language words in older adults: a multi-modal (MRI/EEG) study on medial temporal lobe functions (PI: William Shiyuan Wang). RGC GRF (Project No. 15606119)
- 2024-Present
IEEE Membership - 2024-Present
IEEE Engineering Medicine and Biology Society
