Semantic Cognition Lab
Leonardo Fernandino, Ph.D.
My group investigates how concepts and language meaning are encoded in the brain. We use functional brain imaging (fMRI and MEG), transcranial magnetic stimulation, and behavioral assessment of neurological patients and healthy participants. A current focus of our work is the application of fMRI, semantic modeling and machine learning techniques to investigate how word meaning is represented in high-level association areas of the cortex and how these representations relate to sensory-motor and affective neural systems. The ultimate goal is to elucidate the representational code for conceptual knowledge, leading to a deeper understanding of the language and memory deficits caused by neurological disorders, as well as to advancements in artificial intelligence and brain-machine interface technology.
We are part of the Medical College of Wisconsin, affiliated with the Department of Neurology, the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering, the Neuroscience Research Center, and the doctoral programs in Neuroscience and Biophysics.
Latest publications
Concept Representation
Fernandino & Binder (2024). Encyclopedia of the Human Brain, 2nd edition, Elsevier.
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
Preprint PDF (no paywall) Published version (JNeuro website)
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
My research is supported by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.
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.
