Elaine S. Andersen
Professor of Linguistics, Department of Linguistics,
Program in Neurosciences Professor of Neuroscience
Research Topics
- Aging, Alzheimer's Disease
- Language acquisition
- Language and cognitive impairment, language loss
Research Overview
Dr. Andersen's primary research interest is the relationship between language and non-linguistic cognition. She investigates this relationship by exploring (1) linguistic and cognitive development in normal and atypical (e.g. blind) children as well as (2) linguistic and cognitive impairments in normal and atypical (e.g. Alzheimer's disease) aging.Many of her studies have focussed on lexical semantics (the nature of word meaning), examining: (i) how lexical semantic knowledge is stored and processed in the brain; (ii) how children learn the structure of lexical categories; (iii) the relationship between input and acquisition; (iv) the nature of cross-linguistic universals of lexical structure and acquisition; (v) the role of visual perception in the acquisition of early words; and (vi) the effects of brain damage on lexical processing.
Other psycholinguistic studies have focused more on morpho-syntax, the grammatical aspects of language, where she and her colleagues have explored: (i) how morphological knowledge is represented and processed; (ii) the morphological development of blind and sighted children; (iii) the roles of attention and working memory in language production and comprehension; and (iv) the impact of Alzheimer's disease on sentence processing.
Contact Information
- E-mail:
- eanderse@usc.edu
- Mailing Address:
- University of Southern California
3814 Watt Way, HNB 18A
Los Angeles, CA 90089-2520 - Office Location:
- HNB 28A
- Office Phone:
- (213) 740-9192
- Lab Location:
- HNB 28
- Fax:
- (213) 740-9306
Education
- A.A. French, Foothill College, 1969.
- B.A. Anthropology, Stanford University, 1971.
- M.A. Linguistics, Stanford University, 1974.
- Ph.D. Linguistics, Stanford University, 1978.
Selected Publications
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Kjaer SK, Andersen ES, Djursing H, Hansen T, Jørgensen JJ, Nilas L, Ottesen BS, Petersen LK, Thomsen SG, Toftager-Larsen K. (2007) [Quadrivalent HPV 6/11/16/18 vaccine] Ugeskr Laeger. 169(46):3971-3974. Danish. -PubMed
Andersen ES, Lind-Thomsen A, Knudsen B, Kristensen SE, Havgaard JH, Torarinsson E, Larsen N, Zwieb C, Sestoft P, Kjems J, Gorodkin J. (2007) Semiautomated improvement of RNA alignments. RNA. 13(11):1850-1859. -PubMed
Andersen ES, Kofoed K, Andersen N, Lebech AM. (2007) [Uveitis--a manifestation of syphilis] Ugeskr Laeger. 13;169(33):2645-2646. Danish. -PubMed
Gonnerman, L.M., Seidenberg, M.S., Andersen, E.S. (2007) Graded semantic and phonological similarity effects in priming: Evidence for a distributed connectionist approach to morphology. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.
Arnoff JM, Gonnerman LM, Almor A, Arunachalam S, Kempler D, Andersen ES. (2006) Information content versus relational knowledge: semantic deficits in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Neuropsychologia. 44(1):21-35. -PubMed
Altmann LJ, Kempler D, Andersen ES. (2001) Speech errors in Alzheimer's disease: reevaluating morphosyntactic preservation. Speech Lang Hear Res. 44(5):1069-82. -PubMed
MacDonald MC, Almor A, Henderson VW, Kempler D, Andersen ES. (2001) Assessing working memory and language comprehension in Alzheimer's disease. Brain Lang. 78(1):17-42. -PubMed
Andersen E. (2000) Exploring the register knowledge: The value of 'controlled improvisation'. In: Methods for Studying Language Production, Menn L, Ratner N (eds.), Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: London.
Almor A, MacDonald M, Kempler D, Andersen E, Tyler L. (2000) Comprehension of Long Distance Number Agreement in Probable Alzheimer's Disease. Language and Cognitive Processes.
Almor A, Kempler D, MacDonald M, Andersen E, Tyler L. (1999) Why do Alzheimer's patients have difficulty with pronouns? Working memory, semantics, and reference in comprehension and production in Alzheimer's Disease. Brain and Language 67:202-227. -PubMed