Academic interests
I am interested in psycholinguistic questions such as how one or multiple languages are processed in the brain and how learning a second language affects the neurocognitive system. One of my recent research projects has focused on the question of whether bilingualism is associated with benefits and costs on cognitive control functions and language. I have also done research on how morphologically complex words, i.e., words with several meaningful units (\u201cread+er+s\u201d), are processed in monolinguals and bilinguals, and whether processing is affected by the structure of the language (e.g., Finnish vs. Swedish). We are also currently investigating how such words are processed by immigrants in the process of learning the morphologically rich Finnish language. More recently, I have become involved in studies focusing on multilingual aphasia.
For more information about my research, see my ResearchGate profile
Background
I started as a Professor at University of Turku in August 2020. I received my PhD in Psychology at Åbo Akademi University in 2006. After a postdoc period at University of Maryland in the USA, I worked at University of Helsinki (Collegium for Advanced Studies and Institute of Behavioural Sciences) for several years. In 2014, I returned to Åbo Akademi and worked as an Academy of Finland Academy Research Fellow (akatemiatutkija) from 2015 onward. In 2018, I moved to Norway to work as an Associate Professor and later Professor at the Center for Multilingualism in Society across the Lifespan (Centre of Excellence 2013-2023 of Research Council of Norway) at University of Oslo. In addition to the professorship at University of Turku, I am currently a Research Professor at MultiLing, University of Oslo.