David Kemmerer
Professor, Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences
Joint Appointment
Department of Psychological Sciences
Areas of Expertise
- neurolinguistics, semantics, grounded cognition
Biography
My empirical and theoretical work focuses mainly on how people’s knowledge of word meanings is implemented in their brains. I am especially interested in the relationships between semantics, grammar, perception, and action, and in cross-linguistic similarities and differences in conceptual representation. I have published over 60 articles and chapters, a textbook called “Cognitive neuroscience of language” (1st edition 2015, 2nd edition 2022), and a monograph called “Concepts in the brain: the view from cross-linguistic diversity“ (2019). A new book called “The neuroscience of word meaning” is forthcoming for the Cambridge Fundamentals of Neuroscience in Psychology series.
Education
- PhD
Social Media Accounts
Current Courses
- SLHS 401 - Language and the brain
- SLHS 501 - Neural bases of speech and language
- PSY 324 - Introduction to cognitive neuroscience
- PSY 392 - Psychology of the climate crisis
Selected Publications
- Kemmerer, D. (2024). Transmodal neural substrates of general semantic knowledge: From single words to sentences, stories, and the default mode network. Brain & Language, 252, 105412.
- Kemmerer, D. (2023). Grounded cognition entails linguistic relativity: A neglected implication of a major semantic theory. Topics in Cognitive Science, 15, 615-647. (Target article for peer commentary.)
- Kemmerer, D. (2023). Grounded cognition entails linguistic relativity: Response to commentators. Topics in Cognitive Science, 15, 698-708.
- Kemmerer, D. (2022). Cognitive neuroscience of language: An introduction. 2nd edition. New York: Routledge.
- Kemmerer, D. (2021). What modulates the Mirror Neuron System during action observation? Multiple factors involving the action, the actor, the observer, the relationship between actor and observer, and the context. Progress in Neurobiology, 205, 102128.
- Kemmerer, D. (2019). From blueprints to brain maps: The status of the Lemma Model in cognitive neuroscience. Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience, 34, 1085-1116.
- Kemmerer, D. (2019). Concepts in the brain: The view from cross-linguistic diversity. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Kemmerer, D. (2017). Categories of object concepts across languages and brains: The relevance of nominal classification systems to cognitive neuroscience. Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience, 32, 401-424. (Target article for peer commentary.)