The study of signed languages provides a unique tool for investigating the functional neural organization of language in the human brain. We use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), structural MRI, and event-related potentials (ERPs) to address the following questions:
- Is the deaf, signing brain different from the hearing, speaking brain?
- What is the nature of the bimodal bilingual brain?
- Are there differences in brain anatomy between signers and speakers?
- How is sign perception different from action perception?
- How is language about space and motion processed by the brain?
- Does using a signed language impact the neural organization for non-linguistic visual processing?
Funding
This research is supported by the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (R01 DC101977 and R01 DC014246) and by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01 HD047736).
Recent Publications
- Lee, B., Meade, G., Midgley, K. J., Holcomb, P.J., & Emmorey, K. (2019). ERP evidence for co-activation of English words during recognition of American Sign Language signs. Brain Sciences, 9, 148.
- Meade, G., Lee, B., Midgley, K.J., Holcomb, P.J., & Emmorey, K. (2018). Phonological and semantic priming in American Sign Language: N300 and N400 effects. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 33(9), 1092-1106.
- Blanco-Elorrieta, E., Kastner, I., Emmorey, K., & Pylkkänen, L. (2018). Shared neural correlates for building phrases in signed and spoken language. Scientific Reports, 8:5492.
- Liu, L., Yan, X., Liu, J., Xia, M., Lu, C., Emmorey, K., Chu, M., & Ding, G. (2017). Graph theoretical analysis of functional network for comprehension of sign language. Brain research, 1671, 55-66. Click to request PDF
- Emmorey, K., Mehta, S., McCullough, S., & Grabowski, T.G. (2016). The neural circuits recruited for the production of signs and fingerspelled words. Brain and Language, 160, 30-41.
- Li, L., Emmorey, K., Feng, X., Lu, C., & Ding, G. (2016). Functional connectivity reveals which language the “control regions” control during bilingual production. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 10, 616.
- Weisberg, J., Hubbard, A.L., & Emmorey, K. (2016). Multimodal integration of spontaneously produced representational co-speech gestures: An fMRI study. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience. Click to request PDF
- Emmorey, K., McCullough, S., & Weisberg, J. (2015). Neural correlates of fingerspelling, text, and sign processing in deaf ASL-English bilinguals. Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience, 30(6), 749-767. Click to request PDF
- Weisberg, J., McCullough, S., & Emmorey, K. (2015). Simultaneous perception of a spoken and a signed language: The brain basis of ASL-English code-blends. Brain and Language, 147, 96–106.
- Emmorey, K. (2015). The neurobiology of sign language. In A. Toga (Ed), Brain mapping: An encyclopedic reference, vol. 3, pp. 475-478, Oxford, England: Elsevier. Click to request PDF
Recent Presentations
- Emmorey, K.(2019) Neural and behavioral consequences of lexical iconicity in American Sign Language. Invited speaker for the meeting of Sign Language Linguistics Society (TISLR13). September, Hamburg, Germany.
- Emmorey, K. (2019). Neural effects of iconicity in sign language. Invited presentation at Neuroscience of Language Conference, April, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
- Lee, B., Midgley, K.J., Holcomb, P.J., Emmorey, K., & Meade, G. (2019). ERP evidence for phonological priming in American Sign Language in a semantic task. Poster presented at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, March, San Francisco. (pdf)
- McCullough, S., Brozdowski, C., & Emmorey, K. (2019). Neural correlates for comprehending perspective-independent and perspective-dependent spatial expressions in ASL and English. Poster presented at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, March, San Francisco. (pdf)
- Emmorey, K. (2018). The neurobiology of language: Perspectives from sign language. Keynote speaker at the National Cognitive Science Conference, April, San Diego, CA.
- Emmorey, K. (2018). The neurobiology of language: Perspectives from sign language research. Plenary speaker at the Linguistic Society of America meeting, January, Salt Lake City, Utah.
- Massa, N., Meade, G., Lee, B., Midgley, K.J., Holcomb, P.J., & Emmorey, K. (2018). Single-parameter phonological priming in American Sign Language: An ERP study. Poster presented at the Society for the Neurobiology of Language, August, Québec City, Canada. (pdf)
- Ries, S., Mickelsen, S., Nadalet, L., Mott, M., Midgley, K. J., Holcomb, P.J., & Emmorey, K. (2018). Pre-output language monitoring in sign production. Poster presented at the Society for the Neurobiology of Language, August, Québec City, Canada. (pdf)
- Sevcikova Sehyr, Z., Renna, J., Midgley, K., Emmorey, K., & Holcomb, P. (2018). Orthographic priming by fingerspelled and printed letters. Poster presented at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society Meeting, March, Boston, MA. (pdf)
- Sevcikova Sehyr, Z., Renna, J., Osmond, S., Midgley, K.J., Holcomb, P.J. & Emmorey, K. (2018). Priming effects between fingerspelled fonts and printed letters. Poster presented at the Society for the Neurobiology of Language, August, Québec City, Canada.