Minna Lehtonen

Research Professor
Image of Minna Lehtonen
Available hours By appointment
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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.

Tags: Psycholinguistics, Neurolinguistics, Multilingualism, Bilingualism, Language control, Executive functions, Morphological processing, Word recognition

Publications

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  • Norvik, Monica I. ; Köder, Franziska Maria; Simonsen, Hanne Gram; Hansen, Pernille; Landmark, Anne Marie Dalby & Svennevig, Jan [Show all 10 contributors for this article] (2023). Multilingualism and language disorders.
  • Köder, Franziska Maria; Kyriacou, Marianna; Lehtonen, Minna; García González, Elisabet ; Fyndanis, Valantis & Gardner, Qingyuan Liu (2023). Language and cognitive processes in the multilingual brain.
  • García González, Elisabet ; Lahdenranta, Sonja & Lehtonen, Minna (2023). Are executive functions engaged in language switching? The role of language proficiency .
  • García González, Elisabet ; Jylkkä, Jussi & Lehtonen, Minna (2023). The role of executive functions in bilingual language control in children.
  • García González, Elisabet ; Jylkkä, Jussi & Lehtonen, Minna (2023). The role of executive functions in bilingual language control in children.
  • Lehtonen, Minna; Norvik, Monica I. ; Antfolk, Jan & Goral, Mira (2022). Cross-Language Generalization in Treatment of Multilingual Aphasia: A Meta-Analysis.
  • Ribu, Ingeborg Sophie; Goral, Mira; Theimann, Ane; Iacorossi, Michela; Lehtonen, Minna & Norvik, Monica I. [Show all 10 contributors for this article] (2022). Eye-tracking Measures of Prediction in L1 and L2 in Bilingual People with and without Aphasia .
  • Lehtonen, Minna (2021). Multilingualism and cognition.
  • Ribu, Ingeborg Sophie; Theimann, Ane Ylje Opedal; Kuzmina, Ekaterina; Goral, Mira; Iacorossi, Michela & Lehtonen, Minna [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2021). Predictive ability in bilingual speakers with and without aphasia.
  • Ribu, Ingeborg Sophie; Norvik, Monica I. ; Lehtonen, Minna & Simonsen, Hanne Gram (2021). Free word associations in healthy aging and dementia.
  • Lehtonen, Minna (2020). Puhetyyli ja siihen liittyvä käytösmalli ei katoa, vaan piiloutuu uuden tieltä . [Internet]. https://www.360journalismia.fi/puhetyyli-ja-siihen-liittyva-.
  • Lehtonen, Minna (2020). Neurocognitive benefits of bilingualism: Where to go from here? .
  • Lehtonen, Minna (2019). Cognitive and neural effects of bilingualism.
  • Lehtonen, Minna; Vorobyev, Victor A.; Soveri, Anna; Hugdahl, Kenneth; Tuokkola, Terhi & Laine, Matti (2007). Language-specific brain activation patterns in the bilingual brain: Evidence from inflectional processing in a morphologically rich vs. limited language. Brain and Language. ISSN 0093-934X. 103(1-2), p. 49–50. doi: 10.1016/j.bandl.2007.07.039.
  • Lehtonen, Minna; Vorobyev, Victor A.; Hugdahl, Kenneth; Tuokkola, Terhi & Laine, Matti (2005). Neural correlates of morphological decomposition in a morphologically rich language: an fMRI study.
  • Lehtonen, Minna; Laine, Matti; Niemi, Jussi; Thomsen, Tormod & Hugdahl, Kenneth (2004). Cortical correlates of translation performance in Finnish-Norwegian bilinguals.

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Published Aug. 27, 2021 9:24 PM - Last modified Aug. 27, 2021 9:24 PM