Leonardo Fernandino, Ph.D.
I am a cognitive neuroscientist investigating how language meaning is encoded in the brain. My research uses functional brain imaging (fMRI, MEG), transcranial magnetic stimulation, and behavioral assessment of neurological patients and healthy participants. The current focus of my work is the application of semantic modeling and machine learning techniques to investigate how semantic information represented in high-level association areas relates to sensory-motor and affective neural systems. This work 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.
Latest publications
The Primacy of Experience in Language Processing: Semantic Priming Is Driven Primarily by Experiential Similarity
Fernandino & Conant (preprint)
How does the "default mode" network contribute to semantic cognition?
Fernandino & Binder (2024). Brain and Language.
Stimulus repetition and sample size considerations in item-level representational similarity analysis
Mazurchuk, Conant, Tong, Binder, and Fernandino (2023). Language, Cognition and Neuroscience.
A distributed network for multimodal experiential representation of concepts
Tong, Binder, Humphries, Mazurchuk, Conant, and Fernandino (2022). The Journal of Neuroscience.
Non-technical summary: A Neural Map of Word Meaning
Decoding the information structure underlying the neural representation of concepts
Fernandino, Tong, Conant, Humphries, and Binder (2022). PNAS.
Non-technical summary: The Stuff of Thought Is the Stuff of Experience
Resumo leigo: A Matéria do Pensamento é a Matéria da Experiência
Complete publication list: Faculty Collaboration Database
I talked about my work and answered questions about the brain at The Morning Show on WPR (March 17 2022).
My contribution to the OHBM blog: Imaging Brain Activity in Real Time (July 21 2016)
An article to which I contributed about the Eklund, Nichols, and Knutson (2016) paper: Brain Mapping: Getting It Right
My page on the Medical College of Wisconsin website.
