Dr. Lai uses behavioral and neuroscience brainwave activities, neural imaging) methods to study meaning and language in context. Specifically, there are three lines of research: 1) Figurative language: How do people process metaphorical language? What is the role of metaphor in embodied view of language? What are the social-affective functions of metaphors? 2) Emotion and language: How is emotion encoded in language? How do language activities such as reading give rise to emotion? How do readers’ mood states influence meaning making in language? 3) Language and thought in bilinguals: Do people who speak two languages that have conflicting semantic constructs perceive and reason about the world differently?