Building Language

Fedorenko seeks to understand the cognitive and neural mechanisms that underpin language. This quintessentially human ability allows us to both gain knowledge of the world and to share it with others. Building on Wernicke and Broca’s seminal work, Fedorenko has implicated specific brain regions, together comprising the language network, in linguistic processing. She uses a range of approaches, including behavioral analysis, brain imaging (fMRI, ERP, and MEG), genotyping, intracranial recording in patients, and study of neurodevelopmental disorders. Through these methods, Fedorenko is building a picture of the computations and representations that underlie language processing in the human brain.