Ursula Bellugi

Ursula Bellugi was an American cognitive neuroscientist. She was a Distinguished Professor Emerita and director of the Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California. She was also adjunct professor at the University of California San Diego and San Diego State University and an associate with the Sloan Center for Theoretical Neurobiology. Broadly stated, she conducted research on the biological bases of language. More specifically, she studied the neurological bases of American Sign Language extensively, and her work led to the discovery that the left hemisphere of the human brain becomes specialized for language, whether spoken or signed, a striking demonstration of neuronal plasticity.