Leonardo Fernandino, PhD, Receives $2M Grant to Study How Language Meaning is Encoded in Brain Activity Using Functional Neuroimaging
May 7, 2024 – Dr. Leonardo Fernandino, assistant professor of neurology, has been awarded a $2 million R01 grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) to investigate how different types of information contribute to the representational code underlying language semantics and how different brain regions contribute to this process.
Understanding this uniquely human brain system is necessary for developing principled and effective interventions for patients with communication impairments caused by stroke and other types of injury to the central nervous system.
Other research team members include Dr. Jia-Qing (Tony) Tong and Dr. Jeffrey Binder, and the dedicated research staff in the Cognitive Neuroscience program. Together, they will conduct studies in the MEB building and the Center for Imaging Research, where participants will undergo functional MRI (fMRI).
The fMRI will be used with data from participants' performances on language comprehension tasks to investigate how language meaning is encoded in the brain. This research will help elucidate the representational code for conceptual knowledge, leading to a better understanding of the language and memory deficits caused by neurological disorders. It may also lead to advancements in artificial intelligence and brain-machine interface technology.
This project will span over five years. To learn more about the research process and recent findings, visit Dr. Fernandino's website or X (Twitter) @lfernandino.