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  1. Employees

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Giosuè Baggio

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Giosuè Baggio

Professor of Psycholinguistics
Department of Language and Literature
Faculty of Humanities

giosue.baggio@ntnu.no
+4773596472 Bygg 5, 5543A, Dragvoll
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About Publications Teaching Outreach

About

CV

My research and teaching focus on language, logic and music as models of human cognitive complexity and uniqueness. I am interested in how cognitive neuroscience and the humanities, in particular linguistics and philosophy, can jointly develop new explanatory theories of these capacities, with meaning as a unifying concept.

I have written about these topics in the books Meaning in the Brain (The MIT Press, 2018) and Neurolinguistics (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, 2022).

I co-direct the Language Acquisition and Language Processing Lab and coordinate teaching in English linguistics at the Department of Language and Literature.

I studied philosophy at the University of Pavia and at the University of Strasbourg. I have an MSc from the Institute for Logic, Language and Computation in Amsterdam and a PhD from the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour in Nijmegen. Prior to joining NTNU in 2014, I worked at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen and at the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) in Trieste.

Competencies

  • Cognitive science
  • Neurolinguistics
  • Psycholinguistics
  • Semantics
  • Syntax

Publications

Monographs and edited special issues

Baggio, G., Cohn, N., & Wittenberg, E. (eds.), Parallelism in the architecture of language. Topics in Cognitive Science, to appear.

Baggio, G., Neurolinguistics. The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, 2022. Translated into Arabic (2025) and Spanish (2025).

Martin, A. E., & Baggio, G. (eds.), Towards mechanistic models of meaning composition. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 375(1791), 2020.

Baggio, G., Meaning in the Brain. The MIT Press, 2018.

Chapters in edited volumes

Baggio, G., Brennan, J. R., & Martin, A. E., Explanation in the neuroscience of language. In Nefdt, R. M., Dupre, G., & Stanton, K. (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the Philosophy of Linguistics. Oxford University Press, to appear.

Baggio, G., Epistemic transfer between linguistics and neuroscience: Problems and prospects. In Nefdt, R. M., Klippi, C., & Karstens, B. (eds.), The Philosophy and Science of Language: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Palgrave Macmillan, 2020: 275-308.

Vulchanova, M., Saldaña, D., & Baggio, G., Word structure and word processing in developmental disorders. In Pirrelli, V., Plag, I., & Dressler, W. U. (eds.), Word Knowledge and Word Usage: A Cross-disciplinary Guide to the Mental Lexicon. De Gruyter Mouton, 2020: 680-708.

Baggio, G., Stenning, K., & van Lambalgen, M., Semantics and cognition. In Aloni, M., & Dekker, P. (eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Formal Semantics. Cambridge University Press, 2016: 756-774.

Baggio, G., van Lambalgen, M., & Hagoort, P., Language, linguistics and cognition. In Kempson, R., Fernando, T., & Asher, N. (eds.), Philosophy of Linguistics. Elsevier, 2012: 325-355. In Gabbay, D. M., Thagard, P., & Woods, J. H. (eds.), Handbook of the Philosophy of Science. Elsevier, 2006-2012.

Baggio, G., van Lambalgen, M., & Hagoort, P., The processing consequences of compositionality. In Werning, M., Hinzen, W., & Machery, E. (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Compositionality. Oxford University Press, 2012: 655-672.

Hagoort, P., Baggio, G., & Willems, R. M., Semantic unification. In Gazzaniga, M. S. (ed.), The Cognitive Neurosciences (4th edition). The MIT Press, 2009: 819-835.

Journal articles

Călinescu, L., Ramchand, G., & Baggio, G., Lexical semantics trumps syntax during noun composition in predication and modification contexts: Insights from the N400 and alpha and beta band synchronisation, Language, Cognition and Neuroscience 40(5), 2025: 657-685.

Afoian, V., Vulchanova, M., & Baggio, G., The lexicon constrains grammar, grammar constrains composition: ERP evidence for sequential processing of morphological agreement and sentence meaning, Journal of Neurolinguistics 75, 2025: 101261.

Bochynska, A., & Baggio, G., When hypothesis preregistration feeds into theory development, Collabra: Psychology 11(1), 2025: 130077.

Nefdt, R. M., & Baggio, G., Notational variants and cognition: The case of dependency grammar, Erkenntnis 89(7), 2024: 2867-2897.

Lumaca, M., Keller, P. E., Baggio, G., Pando-Naude, V., Bajada, C. J., Martinez, M. A., Hansen, J. H., Ravignani, A., Joe, N., Vuust, P., Vulić, K., & Sandberg, K., Frontoparietal network topology as a neural marker of musical perceptual abilities, Nature Communications 15, 2024: 8160.

Baggio, G., De Santo, A., & Nuñez Hernández, N. A., Plausibility and early theory in linguistics and cognitive science, Computational Brain & Behavior 7, 2024: 535-547.

Bremnes, H. S., Szymanik, J., & Baggio, G., The interplay of computational complexity and memory load during quantifier verification, Language, Cognition and Neuroscience 39(1), 2024: 1-23.

Haukioja, J., Toorman, J., Baggio, G., & Jylkkä, J., Are natural kind terms ambiguous?, Cognitive Science 47(9), 2023: e13335.

Abreu, R., Postarnak, S., Vulchanov, V., Baggio, G., & Vulchanova, M., The association between statistical learning and language development during childhood: A scoping review, Heliyon 9(8), 2023: e18693.

Lumaca, M., Bonetti, L., Brattico, E., Baggio, G., Ravignani, A., & Vuust, P., High-fidelity transmission of auditory symbolic material is associated with reduced right-left neuroanatomical asymmetry between primary auditory regions, Cerebral Cortex 33(11), 2023: 6902-6916.

Călinescu, L., Ramchand, G., & Baggio, G., How (not) to look for meaning composition in the brain: A reassessment of current experimental paradigms, Frontiers in Language Sciences 2, 2023: 1096110.

Fritz, I., & Baggio, G., Neural and behavioral effects of typicality, denotation and composition in an adjective-noun combination task, Language, Cognition and Neuroscience 37(5), 2022: 537-559.

Bremnes, H. S., Szymanik, J., & Baggio, G., Computational complexity explains neural differences in quantifier verification, Cognition 223, 2022: 105013.

Lumaca, M., Vuust, P., & Baggio, G., Network analysis of human brain connectivity reveals neural fingerprints of a compositionality bias in signaling systems, Cerebral Cortex 32(8), 2022: 1704-1720.

van Rooij, I., & Baggio, G., Theory before the test: How to build high-verisimilitude explanatory theories in psychological science, Perspectives on Psychological Science 16(4), 2021: 682-697.

Baggio, G., Compositionality in a parallel architecture for language processing, Cognitive Science 45(5), 2021: e12949.

Lumaca, M., Baggio, G., & Vuust, P., White matter variability in auditory callosal pathways contributes to variation in the cultural transmission of auditory symbolic systems, Brain Structure and Function 226, 2021: 1943-1959.

Olstad, A. M. H., Fritz, I., & Baggio, G., Composition decomposed: Distinct neural mechanisms support processing of nouns in modification and predication contexts, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 46(11), 2020: 2193-2206.

Luzzi, S., Baldinelli, S., Ranaldi, V., Fiori, C., Plutino, A., Fringuelli, F. M., Silvestrini, M., Baggio, G., & Reverberi, C., The neural bases of discourse semantic and pragmatic deficits in patients with frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, Cortex 128, 2020: 174-191.

Morgan, E., van der Meer, A., Vulchanova, M., Blasi, D. E., & Baggio, G., Meaning before grammar: A review of ERP experiments on the neurodevelopmental origins of semantic processing, Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 27(3), 2020: 441-464.

Islam, F., & Baggio, G., Kripkeans of the world, unite!, Journal of Semantics 37(2), 2020: 297-309.

Fritz, I., & Baggio, G., Meaning composition in minimal phrasal contexts: Distinct ERP effects of intensionality and denotation, Language, Cognition and Neuroscience 35(10), 2020: 1295-1313.

Călinescu, L., Giskes, A., Vulchanova, M., & Baggio, G., Embedding (im)plausible clauses in propositional attitude contexts: Modulatory effects on the N400 and late components, Journal of Neurolinguistics 53, 2020: 100877.

Lumaca, M., Kleber, B., Brattico, E., Vuust, P., & Baggio, G., Functional connectivity in human auditory networks and the origins of variation in the transmission of musical systems, eLIFE 8, 2019: e48710.

Michalon, O., & Baggio, G., Meaning-driven syntactic predictions in a parallel processing architecture: Theory and algorithmic modeling of ERP effects, Neuropsychologia 131, 2019: 171-183.

Vulchanova, M., Milburn, E., Vulchanov, V., & Baggio, G., Boon or burden? The role of compositional meaning in figurative language processing and acquisition, Journal of Logic, Language and Information 28(2), 2019: 359-387.

Lumaca, M., Haumann, N. T., Vuust, P., Brattico, E., & Baggio, G., From random to regular: Neural constraints on the emergence of isochronous rhythm during cultural transmission, Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 13(8), 2018: 877-888.

Lumaca, M., Ravignani, A., & Baggio, G., Music evolution in the laboratory: Cultural transmission meets neurophysiology, Frontiers in Neuroscience 12, 2018: 246.

Nowak, I., & Baggio, G., Developmental constraints on learning artificial grammars with fixed, flexible and free word order, Frontiers in Psychology 8, 2017: 1816.

Lumaca, M., & Baggio, G., Cultural transmission and evolution of melodic structures in multi-generational signaling games, Artificial Life 23(3), 2017: 406-423.

Cosentino, E., Baggio, G., Kontinen, J., & Werning, M., The time-course of sentence meaning composition: N400 effects of the interaction between context-induced and lexically-stored affordances, Frontiers in Psychology 8, 2017: 813.

Lumaca, M., & Baggio, G., Brain potentials predict learning, transmission and modification of an artificial symbolic system, Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 11(12), 2016: 1970-1979.

Baggio, G., Granello, G., Verriello, L., & Eleopra, R., Formal semantics in the neurology clinic: Atypical understanding of aspectual coercion in ALS patients, Frontiers in Psychology 7, 2016: 1733.

Nowak, I., & Baggio, G., The emergence of word order and morphology in compositional languages via multi-generational signaling games, Journal of Language Evolution 1(2), 2016: 137-150.

Baggio, G., Cherubini, P., Pischedda, D., Blumenthal, A., Haynes, J.-D., & Reverberi, C., Multiple neural representations of elementary logical connectives, NeuroImage 135, 2016: 300-310.

Moreno, M., & Baggio, G., Role asymmetry and code transmission in signaling games: An experimental and computational investigation, Cognitive Science 39(5), 2015: 918-943.

Brederoo, S. G., Bos, L. S., Dragoy, O., Bastiaanse, R., & Baggio, G., Gamma oscillations as a neural signature of shifting times in narrative language, PLoS One 10(4), 2015: e0121146.

Baggio, G., van Lambalgen, M., & Hagoort, P., Logic as Marr’s computational level: Four case studies, Topics in Cognitive Science 7(2), 2015: 287-298.

Fonseca, A., Boboeva, V., Brederoo, S., & Baggio, G., Disrupting morphosyntactic and lexical semantic processing has opposite effects on the sample entropy of neural signals, Brain Research 1604, 2015: 1-14.

Pavan, A., Skujevskis, M., & Baggio, G., Motion words selectively modulate direction discrimination sensitivity for threshold motion, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 7, 2013: 134.

Pavan, A., & Baggio, G., Linguistic representations of motion do not depend on the visual motion system, Psychological Science 24(2), 2013: 181-188.

Baggio, G., Selective alignment of brain responses by task demands during semantic processing, Neuropsychologia 50(5), 2012: 655-665.

Baggio, G., & Fonseca, A., Complex dynamics of semantic memory access in reading, Journal of the Royal Society Interface 9(67), 2012: 328-338.

Baggio, G., & Hagoort, P., The balance between memory and unification in semantics: A dynamic account of the N400, Language and Cognitive Processes 26(9), 2011: 1338-1367.

Baggio, G., Choma, T., van Lambalgen, M., & Hagoort, P., Coercion and compositionality, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 22(9), 2010: 2131-2140.

Baggio, G., Processing temporal constraints: An ERP study, Language Learning 58(s1), 2008: 35-55.

Baggio, G., van Lambalgen, M., & Hagoort, P., Computing and recomputing discourse models: An ERP study, Journal of Memory and Language 59(1), 2008: 36-53.

Baggio, G., & van Lambalgen, M., The processing consequences of the imperfective paradox, Journal of Semantics 24(4), 2007: 307-330.

Reviews, commentaries and editorials

Reverberi, C., Baggio, G., & Cherubini, P., What’s left to explain and what’s right to conclude about the neurocognition of deductive reasoning?, Brain 148(5), 2025: 1451-1453.

Baggio, G., Ronald J. Planer and Kim Sterelny, From signal to symbol: The evolution of language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2021, xx + 272 pp., Language and Cognition 14(3), 2022: 503-508.

Baggio, G., Book Review. Derek Ball & Brian Rabern (Eds.), The Science of Meaning. Essays on the Metatheory of Natural Language Semantics. Oxford University Press. Hardback, pp. 432 + vii, Journal of Logic, Language and Information 30(4), 2021: 819-823.

Lumaca, M., Brattico, E., & Baggio, G., Signaling games and music as a credible signal, Behavioral and Brain Sciences 44, 2021: e107.

van Rooij, I., & Baggio, G., Theory development requires an epistemological sea change, Psychological Inquiry 31(4), 2020: 321-325.

Martin, A. E., & Baggio, G., Modelling meaning composition from formalism to mechanism, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 375(1791), 2020: 20190298.

Baggio, G., Morten H. Christiansen & Nick Chater, Creating Language: Integrating Evolution, Acquisition, and Processing. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2016. Pp. xiv + 330, Nordic Journal of Linguistics 43(1), 2020: 127-132.

Morgan, E., & Baggio, G., Language in Our Brain: The Origins of a Uniquely Human Capacity, by Angela D. Friederici, Journal of Language Evolution 4(1), 2019: 78-81.

Baggio, G., Andrea Moro, A brief history of the verb to be. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2018. Pp. xvi + 288, Journal of Linguistics 54(4), 2018: 910-914.

Lumaca, M., & Baggio, G., Signaling games and the evolution of structure in language and music: A reply to Ravignani and Verhoef (2018), Artificial Life 24(2), 2018: 154-156.

Baggio, G., & Bremnes, H. S., Jakub Szymanik, Quantifiers and Cognition. Logical and Computational Perspectives. Springer, 2016. Pp. xii + 211, Studia Logica 105(5), 2017: 1015-1019.

Baggio, G., & Vicario, C. M., Language processing is not a race against time, Behavioral and Brain Sciences 39, 2016: e64.

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Teaching

Primary teaching responsibilities

  • SPRÅK3200 Semantics and Pragmatics
  • SPRÅK3300 Language and Cognition

Contributions to lectures and seminars

  • SPRÅK3001 Research Methods in Linguistics
  • ENG1102 Introduction to English Linguistics
  • NEVR2010 Introduction to Neuroscience
  • NEVR3003 Behavioural and Cognitive Neuroscience
  • HFO1001 Understandings of AI: Critical Perspectives

Supervision

At the Bachelor’s and Master’s levels, I can supervise theses in linguistics and the cognitive science of language, with a preference for topics in semantics.

At the PhD level, I can only supervise projects within my areas of research. If you wish to contact me as a potential supervisor, please read the admissions guidelines for the PhD programme in Language and Linguistics at the Faculty of Humanities.

For examples of Master’s theses and PhD dissertations completed at the Language Acquisition and Language Processing Lab, please visit our archive.

Outreach

Universities should not use personality or ability tests in recruitment

Universitetsavisa | 2025

Local salary negotiations are a lifeline for international researchers

Forskerforum | 2024

Spesialsending om dyrespråk

Språksnakk NRK Radio | 2024

En dugnad mot kognitiv latskap

Adresseavisen | 2024

Nevrolingvistikk

Store norske leksikon | 2023

A plea for the 4-year PhD

Khrono | 2023

Finding language in the brain

The MIT Press Reader | 2022

Fundamental forces of the mind

Babel — The Language Magazine | 2019

Norway puts plans for ‘corporate’ universities on ice

Times Higher Education | 2019

Il senso per la musica

Le Scienze — Mente & Cervello | 2017

We should offer training in quantitative methods to all humanities students

Universitetsavisa | 2017

Premiare il potenziale di crescita, non solo la produttività media dei dipartimenti universitari

Menabò di Etica e Economia | 2017

Nordic higher education in decline?

Times Higher Education | 2016

Universities need a REF that rewards potential

Times Higher Education | 2016

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