Ina Bornkessel-Schlesewsky

Prof Ina Bornkessel-Schlesewsky

Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience

School of Psychology

College of Education, Behavioural and Social Sciences

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.

Available For Media Comment.

Ina Bornkessel-Schlesewsky is Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and Head of the Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory within the Australian Research Centre for Interactive and Virtual Environments (IVE).
Ina joined UniSA in 2014 from the University of Marburg, Germany. Prior to her appointment as Professor of Neurolinguistics in Marburg, she headed the Max Planck Research Group "Neurotypology" at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany.
Ina is passionate about understanding how the human brain processes language – an interest that she first developed due to her bilingual upbringing, after having moved to Australia from Germany at the age of 7. She has championed the perspective that, in order to truly understand how the human brain processes language, we need to take into account the full diversity of the world's 7000 languages. Her research is further inspired by the recognition that language – like all human cognitive abilities – is deeply rooted in neurobiology and basic mechanisms of information processing in the brain.
With a prolific research program reflected in over 90 publications in refereed international journals, over 20 book chapters and 4 monographs / edited volumes, Ina has secured more than AU$4 million in competitive grant funding. Her research has been honoured with a number of prizes, including the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize (awarded by the German Research Foundation and German Federal Ministry of Education and Research), the most prestigious scientific prize for young researchers in Germany.

My research focuses on the neurobiology of language, the way in which language is implemented by the brain. Specifically, I am developing a model of language processing (eADM) that aspires towards neurobiological plausibility. The eADM is singular in that it draws upon neurobiological design principles gleaned from animal models as well as on functional insights from cross-linguistic comparisons: with approximately 7000 living languages but only one human brain to process them, generalisations in the midst of this diversity presumably reflect underlying organisational principles that can inform neurobiological models. I conduct research using electroencepahlography (EEG), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and behavioural techniques (e.g. eye-tracking).,To find out more about my research and further research in Cognitive Neuroscience at UniSA, please also visit the Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory website.

Year Citation
2025 Masoumzadeh, S., Yu, R., Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., Gu, N., Zhang, F., Cao, Z., & Sakhaei, H. (2025). Neuroscientific methodologies in urban studies: a systematic review and new directions for evidence-based urban design and planning. Cities & Health, online, 1-22.
DOI Scopus1 WoS1
2025 Malko, A., Wilmoth, S., Thanabalan, T., Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, I., Nordlinger, R., Schlesewsky, M., & Kidd, E. (2025). Real-time thematic role assignment in Pitjantjatjara: an eye-tracking study. Language Cognition and Neuroscience, 21 pages.
DOI
2025 Egurtzegi, A., Sauppe, S., Isasi Isasmendi, A., de la Hidalga, G. M., Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., Schlesewsky, M., . . . Andrews, C. (2025). Effect of animacy on the agent preference: self-paced reading evidence from Basque. Memory & Cognition, 53(7), 1-20.
DOI Scopus1 WoS1
2025 Cross, Z. R., Helfrich, R. F., Corcoran, A. W., Dede, A. J. O., Kohler, M. J., Coussens, S. W., . . . Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, I. (2025). Slow oscillation-spindle coupling predicts sequence-based language learning. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 45(3), e2193232024-1-e2193232024-14.
DOI Scopus4 WoS4 Europe PMC3
2024 Huber, E., Sauppe, S., Isasi Isasmendi, A., Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., Merlo, P., & Bickel, B. (2024). Surprisal from language models can predict ERPs in processing predicate-argument structures only if enriched by an Agent Preference principle. Neurobiology of Language, 5(1), 167-200.
DOI Scopus12 WoS11 Europe PMC5
2024 Dziego, C. A., Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., Schlesewsky, M., Sinha, R., Immink, M. A., & Cross, Z. R. (2024). Augmenting complex and dynamic performance through mindfulness-based cognitive training: an evaluation of training adherence, trait mindfulness, personality and resting-state EEG. PLoS ONE, 19(5), 1-30.
DOI Scopus3 WoS2 Europe PMC3
2024 Jano, S., Cross, Z. R., Chatburn, A., Schlesewsky, M., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. (2024). Prior context and individual alpha frequency influence predictive processing during language comprehension. Journal of cognitive neuroscience, 36(9), 1898-1936.
DOI Europe PMC1
2024 Dziego, C. A., Zanesco, A. P., Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., Schlesewsky, M., Stanley, E. A., & Jha, A. P. (2024). Mindfulness training in high-demand cohorts alters resting-state electroencephalography: an exploratory investigation of individual alpha frequency, aperiodic 1/f activity, and microstates. Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science, 4(6), 1-11.
DOI Scopus1 WoS1 Europe PMC1
2024 Jano, S., Chatburn, A., Cross, Z. R., Schlesewsky, M., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. (2024). How predictability and individual alpha frequency shape memory: insights from an event-related potential investigation. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 216(108006), 1-15.
DOI
2023 Volmer, B., Baumeister, J., Von Itzstein, S., Schlesewsky, M., Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., & Thomas, B. H. (2023). Event related brain responses reveal the impact of spatial augmented reality predictive cues on mental effort. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 29(12), 4990-5007.
DOI Scopus4 WoS3
2023 Volmer, B., Liu, J. S., Matthews, B., Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., Feiner, S., & Thomas, B. H. (2023). Multi-level precues for guiding tasks within and between workspaces in spatial augmented reality. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 29(11), 4449-4459.
DOI Scopus2 WoS1 Europe PMC1
2023 Richter, M., Cross, Z. R., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. (2023). Individual differences in information processing during sleep and wake predict sleep-based memory consolidation of complex rules. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 205(107842), 1-13.
DOI
2023 Dziego, C. A., Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., Jano, S., Chatburn, A., Schlesewsky, M., Immink, M. A., . . . Cross, Z. R. (2023). Neural and cognitive correlates of performance in dynamic multi-modal settings. Neuropsychologia, 180(108483), 1-14.
DOI Scopus10 WoS10 Europe PMC12
2023 Sauppe, S., Næss, Å., Roversi, G., Meyer, M., Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., & Bickel, B. (2023). An agent-first preference in a patient-first language during sentence comprehension. Cognitive Science, 47(9), 1-36.
DOI Scopus20 WoS20 Europe PMC10
2022 Schoknecht, P., Roehm, D., Schlesewsky, M., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. (2022). The interaction of predictive processing and similarity-based retrieval interference: an ERP study. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 37(7), 883-901.
DOI Scopus11 WoS12
2022 Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., Sharrad, I., Howlett, C. A., Alday, P. M., Corcoran, A. W., Bellan, V., . . . Schlesewsky, M. (2022). Rapid adaptation of predictive models during language comprehension: aperiodic EEG slope, individual alpha frequency and idea density modulate individual differences in real-time model updating. Frontiers In Psychology, 13(817516), 1-28.
DOI Scopus18 WoS18 Europe PMC19
2022 Cross, Z. R., Chatburn, A., Melberzs, L., Temby, P., Pomeroy, D., Schlesewsky, M., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. (2022). Task-related, intrinsic oscillatory and aperiodic neural activity predict performance in naturalistic team-based training scenarios. Scientific Reports, 12(1, article no. 16172), 1-15.
DOI Scopus6 WoS6 Europe PMC6
2022 Cross, Z. R., Corcoran, A. W., Schlesewsky, M., Kohler, M. J., & Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, I. (2022). Oscillatory and aperiodic neural activity jointly predict language learning. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 34(9), 1630-1649.
DOI Scopus25 Europe PMC39
2022 Egurtzegi, A., Blasi, D. E., Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., Laka, I., Meyer, M., Bickel, B., & Sauppe, S. (2022). Cross-linguistic differences in case marking shape neural power dynamics and gaze behavior during sentence planning. Brain And Language, 230(105127), 1-13.
DOI Scopus15 WoS14 Europe PMC7
2021 Kyriaki, L., Schlesewsky, M., & Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, I. (2021). Thematic role assignment in non-default verb classes: A cross-linguistic comparison of English and German. Glossa, 6(1), 1-26.
DOI Scopus1
2021 Liebherr, M., Corcoran, A. W., Alday, P. M., Coussens, S., Bellan, V., Howlett, C. A., . . . Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, I. (2021). EEG and behavioral correlates of attentional processing while walking and navigating naturalistic environments. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 22325-1-22325-13.
DOI Scopus24 WoS21 Europe PMC14
2021 Cross, Z. R., Zou Williams, L., Wilkinson, E. M., Schlesewsky, M., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. (2021). Mini Pinyin: a modified miniature language for studying language learning and incremental sentence processing. Behavior Research Methods, 53(3), 1218-1239.
DOI Scopus3 WoS2 Europe PMC2
2021 Sauppe, S., Choudhary, K. K., Giroud, N., Blasi, D. E., Norcliffe, E., Bhattamishra, S., . . . Bickel, B. (2021). Neural signatures of syntactic variation in speech planning. PLoS biology, 19(1), 1-20.
DOI Scopus25 WoS24 Europe PMC14
2021 Immink, M. A., Cross, Z. R., Chatburn, A., Baumeister, J., Schlesewsky, M., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. (2021). Resting-state aperiodic neural dynamics predict individual differences in visuomotor performance and learning. Human Movement Science, 78(article no. 102829), 1-13.
DOI Scopus27 WoS26 Europe PMC29
2020 Kurthen, I., Meyer, M., Schlesewsky, M., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. (2020). Individual differences in peripheral hearing and cognition reveal sentence processing differences in healthy older adults. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 14, 1-20.
DOI Scopus13 WoS12 Europe PMC13
2020 Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., Roehm, D., Mailhammer, R., & Schlesewsky, M. (2020). Language processing as a precursor to language change: evidence from Icelandic. Frontiers in Psychology, 10(3013), 1-18.
DOI Scopus10 WoS7 Europe PMC6
2020 Chan, R. W., Alday, P. M., Zou Williams, L., Lushington, K., Schlesewsky, M., Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., & Immink, M. A. (2020). Focused-attention meditation increases cognitive control during motor sequence performance: Evidence from the N2 cortical evoked potential. Behavioural Brain Research, 384(article no. 112536), 17 pages.
DOI Scopus19 WoS17 Europe PMC11
2020 Kyriaki, L., Schlesewsky, M., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. (2020). Semantic reversal anomalies under the microscope: task and modality influences on language‐associated event‐related potentials. European Journal of Neuroscience, 52(7), 3803-3827.
DOI Scopus5 WoS4 Europe PMC3
2020 Dröge, A., Rabs, E., Fleischer, J., Billion, S. K. H., Meyer, M., Schmid, S., . . . Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, I. (2020). Case Syncretism, Animacy, and Word Order in Continental West Germanic: Neurolinguistic Evidence from a Comparative Study on Standard German, Zurich German, and Fering (North Frisian). Journal of Germanic Linguistics, 32(3), 217-310.
DOI Scopus9 WoS9
2019 Brilmayer, I., Werner, A., Primus, B., Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., & Schlesewsky, M. (2019). The exceptional nature of the first person in natural story processing and the transfer of egocentricity. Language, cognition and neuroscience, 34(4), 411-427.
DOI Scopus18 WoS17
2019 Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., & Schlesewsky, M. (2019). Toward a neurobiologically plausible model of language-related, negative event-related potentials. Frontiers in psychology, 10(298), 1-17.
DOI Scopus127 WoS116 Europe PMC80
2019 Kandylaki, K. D., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. (2019). From story comprehension to the neurobiology of language. Language, cognition and neuroscience, 34(4), 405-410.
DOI Scopus18 WoS16
2018 Corcoran, A. W., Alday, P. M., Schlesewsky, M., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. (2018). Toward a reliable, automated method of individual alpha frequency (IAF) quantification. Psychophysiology, 55(7), 1-21.
DOI Scopus141 WoS131 Europe PMC114
2018 Volmer, B., Baumeister, J., Von Itzstein, S., Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., Schlesewsky, M., Billinghurst, M., & Thomas, B. H. (2018). A comparison of predictive spatial augmented reality cues for procedural tasks. IEEE transactions on visualization and computer graphics, 24(11), 2846-2856.
DOI Scopus47 WoS39 Europe PMC8
2018 Weiss, A. F., Kretzschmar, F., Schlesewsky, M., Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., & Staub, A. (2018). Comprehension demands modulate re-reading, but not first-pass reading behavior. Quarterly journal of experimental psychology, 71(1), 198-210.
DOI Scopus26 WoS26 Europe PMC7
2018 Cross, Z. R., Kohler, M. J., Schlesewsky, M., Gaskell, M. G., & Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, I. (2018). Sleep-dependent memory consolidation and incremental sentence comprehension: computational dependencies during language learning as revealed by neuronal oscillations. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 12(18), 1-1-18-18.
DOI Scopus24 WoS22 Europe PMC15
2017 Alday, P. M., Schlesewsky, M., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. (2017). Electrophysiology reveals the neural dynamics of naturalistic auditory language processing: Event- related potentials reflect continuous model updates. eNeuro, 4(6, article no. e0311-16.2017), 1-19.
DOI Scopus46 WoS45 Europe PMC31
2017 Brilmayer, I., Sassenhagen, J., Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., & Schlesewsky, M. (2017). Domain-general neural correlates of dependency formation: Using complex tones to simulate language. Cortex, 93, 50-67.
DOI Scopus4 WoS4 Europe PMC3
2017 Alday, P. M., Schlesewsky, M., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. (2017). Commentary on Sanborn and Chater: posterior modes are attractor basins. Trends in cognitive sciences, 21(7), 491-492.
DOI Scopus1 WoS3 Europe PMC1
2017 Kandylaki, K. D., Henrich, K., Nagels, A., Kircher, T., Domahs, U., Schlesewsky, M., . . . Wiese, R. (2017). Where is the beat? The neural correlates of lexical stress and rhythmical well-formedness in auditory story comprehension. Journal of cognitive neuroscience, 29(7), 1119-1131.
DOI Scopus9 WoS8 Europe PMC6
2016 Kandylaki, K. D., Nagels, A., Tune, S., Kircher, T., Wiese, R., Schlesewsky, M., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. (2016). Predicting 'when' in discourse engages the human dorsal auditory stream: an fMRI study using naturalistic stories. Journal of neuroscience, 36(48), 12180-12191.
DOI Scopus20 WoS18 Europe PMC13
2016 Tune, S., Schlesewsky, M., Nagels, A., Small, S. L., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. (2016). Sentence understanding depends on contextual use of semantic and real world knowledge. NeuroImage, 136, 10-25.
DOI Scopus7 WoS6 Europe PMC4
2016 Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., Alday, P. M., & Schlesewsky, M. (2016). A modality-independent, neurobiological grounding for the combinatory capacity of the language-ready brain. Comment on "Towards a computational comparative neuroprimatology: framing the language-ready brain" by Michael A. Arbib. Physics of Life Reviews, 16, 55-57.
DOI Scopus4 WoS4 Europe PMC2
2016 Dröge, A., Fleischer, J., Schlesewsky, M., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. D. (2016). Neural mechanisms of sentence comprehension based on predictive processes and decision certainty: Electrophysiological evidence from non-canonical linearizations in a flexible word order language. Brain Research, 1633, 149-166.
DOI Scopus23 WoS23 Europe PMC20
2016 Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., & Schlesewsky, M. (2016). The importance of linguistic typology for the neurobiology of language. Linguistic typology, 20(3), 615-621.
DOI Scopus18 WoS14
2015 Sassenhagen, J., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. (2015). The P600 as a correlate of ventral attention network reorientation. Cortex, 66, 3-20.
DOI Scopus58 WoS54 Europe PMC37
2015 Bickel, B., Witzlack Makarevich, A., Choudhary, K. K., Schlesewsky, M., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. D. (2015). The neurophysiology of language processing shapes the evolution of grammar: evidence from case marking. PLoS one, 10(8, article no. e0132819), 1-22.
DOI Scopus89 WoS78 Europe PMC29
2015 Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., Schlesewsky, M., Small, S. L., & Rauschecker, J. P. (2015). Response to Skeide and Friederici: the myth of the uniquely human 'direct' dorsal pathway. Trends in cognitive sciences, 19(9), 484-485.
DOI Scopus9 WoS7 Europe PMC7
2015 Frenzel, S., Schlesewsky, M., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. (2015). Two routes to actorhood: lexicalized potency to act and identification of the actor role. Frontiers in psychology, 6(article no. 1), 1-21.
DOI Scopus13 WoS12 Europe PMC83
2015 Alday, P. M., Schlesewsky, M., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. (2015). Discovering prominence and its role in language processing: an individual (differences) approach. Linguistics Vanguard, 1(1), 201-213.
DOI Scopus7
2015 Muralikrishnan, R., Schlesewsky, M., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. D. (2015). Animacy-based predictions in language comprehension are robust: contextual cues modulate but do not nullify them. Brain research, 1608, 108-137.
DOI Scopus15 WoS15 Europe PMC9
2015 Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., Schlesewsky, M., Small, S. L., & Rauschecker, J. P. (2015). Neurobiological roots of language in primate audition : common computational properties. Trends in cognitive sciences, 19(3), 142-150.
DOI Scopus155 WoS136 Europe PMC115
2015 Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., Philipp, M., Alday, P. M., Kretzschmar, F., Grewe, T., Gumpert, M., . . . Schlesewsky, M. (2015). Age-related changes in predictive capacity versus internal model adaptability: electrophysiological evidence that individual differences outweigh effects of age. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 7(217), 1-13.
DOI Scopus16 WoS15 Europe PMC12
2015 Kandylaki, K. D., Nagels, A., Tune, S., Wiese, R., Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., & Kircher, T. (2015). Processing of false belief passages during natural story comprehension: An fMRI study. Human Brain Mapping, 36(1), 4231-4246.
DOI Scopus24 WoS23 Europe PMC15
2014 Arbib, M. A., Bonaito, J. J., Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., Kemmerer, D., MacWhinney, B., Nielsen, F. A., & Oztop, E. (2014). Action and language mechanisms in the brain: Data, models and neuroinformatics. NeuroInformatics, 12(1), 209-225.
DOI Scopus8 Europe PMC7
2014 Alday, P. M., Schlesewsky, M., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. (2014). Towards a computational model of actor-based language comprehension. Neuroinformatics, 12(1), 143-179.
DOI Scopus26 Europe PMC11
2014 Tune, S., Schlesewsky, M., Small, S. L., Sanford, A. J., Bohan, J., Sassenhagen, J., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. (2014). Cross-linguistic variation in the neurophysiological response to semantic processing : evidence from anomalies at the borderline of awareness. Neuropsychologia, 56(1), 147-166.
DOI Scopus15 Europe PMC13
2014 Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. D., Schlesewsky, M., & Small, S. (2014). Implementation is crucial but must be beurobiologically grounded. Comment on 'Toward a computational framework for cognitive biology: Unifying approaches from cognitive neuroscinece and camparative cognition' by W Tecumseh fitch. Physics of Life Reviews, 11(3), 365-366.
DOI Scopus3 WoS3 Europe PMC2
2014 Sassenhagen, J., Schlesewsky, M., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. (2014). The P600-as-P3 hypothesis revisited: Single-trial analyses reveal that the late EEG positivity following linguistically deviant material is reaction time aligned. Brain and Language, 137, 29-39.
DOI Scopus151 WoS140 Europe PMC100
2013 Hosemann, J., Hermann, A., Steinbach, M., Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., & Schlesewsky, M. (2013). Lexical prediction via forward models: N400 evidence from German Sign Language. Neuropsychologia, 51(11), 2224-2237.
DOI Scopus46 Europe PMC25
2013 Kretzschmar, F., Pleimling, D., Hosemann, J., Füssel, S., Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., & Schlesewsky, M. (2013). Subjective impressions do not mirror online reading effort: concurrent EEG-eyetracking evidence from the reading of books and digital media. PLoS one, 8(2, article no. e56178), 1-11.
DOI Scopus106 Europe PMC24
2013 Roehm, D., Sorace, A., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. (2013). Processing flexible form-to-meaning mappings: evidence for enriched composition as opposed to indeterminacy. Language and cognitive processes, 28(8), 1244-1274.
DOI Scopus10
2013 Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., Krauspenhaar, S., & Schlesewsky, M. (2013). Yes, you can? A speaker's potency to act upon his words orchestrates early neural responses to message-level meaning. PLoS One, 8(7, article no. e69173), 1-16.
DOI Scopus13
2013 Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., & Schlesewsky, M. (2013). Reconciling time, space and function: a new dorsal-ventral stream model of sentence comprehension. Brain and language, 125(1), 60-76.
DOI Scopus211 Europe PMC158
2012 Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., Grewe, T., & Schlesewsky, M. (2012). Prominence vs. aboutness in sequencing: a functional distinction within the left inferior frontal gyrus. Brain and language, 120(2), 96-107.
DOI Scopus20 Europe PMC17
2012 Schlesewsky, M., & Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, I. (2012). Preface: The neurobiology of syntax. Brain and Language, 120(2), 79-82.
DOI Scopus4 Europe PMC2
2012 Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., & Schlesewsky, M. (2012). Linguistic sequence processing and the prefrontal cortex. The open medical imaging journal, 47(1-M2), 6-61.
DOI
2011 Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., Kretzschmar, F., Tune, S., Wang, L., Genç, S., Philipp, M., . . . Schlesewsky, M. (2011). Think globally: cross-linguistic variation in electrophysiological activity during sentence comprehension. Brain and language, 117(3), 133-152.
DOI Scopus108 Europe PMC72
2011 Lotze, N., Tune, S., Schlesewsky, M., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. D. (2011). Meaningful physical changes mediate lexical-semantic integration: top-down and form-based bottom-up information sources interact in the N400. Neuropsychologia, 49(13), 3573-3582.
DOI Scopus20 Europe PMC15
2011 Frenzel, S., Schlesewsky, M., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. (2011). Conflicts in language processing: A new perspective on the N400-P600 distinction. Neuropsychologia, 49(3), 574-579.
DOI Scopus42 Europe PMC22
2010 Lohmann, G., Hoehl, S., Brauer, J., Danielmeier, C., Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. D., Bahlmann, J., . . . Friederici, A. D. (2010). Setting the frame: The human brain activates a basic low-frequency network for language processing. Cerebral Cortex, 20(6), 1286-1292.
DOI Scopus62 Europe PMC53
2009 Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. D., & Schlesewsky, M. (2009). The role of prominence information in the real-time comprehension of transitive constructions: A cross-linguistic approach. Language and Linguistics Compass, 3(1), 19-58.
DOI Scopus191
2009 Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. D., & Schlesewsky, M. (2009). Minimality as vacuous distinctness: Evidence from cross-linguistic sentence comprehension. Lingua, 110(10), 1541-1559.
DOI Scopus20
2009 Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. D., Schlesewsky, M., & Cramon, D. Y. (2009). Word order and Broca's region: Evidence for a supra-syntactic perspective. Brain and Language, 111(3), 125-139.
DOI Scopus50 Europe PMC36
2009 Kretzschmar, F., Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., & Schlesewsky, M. (2009). Parafoveal versus foveal N400s dissociate spreading activation from contextual fit. NeuroReport, 1613(18), 20-1618.
2009 Choudhary, K. K., Schlesewsky, M., Roehm, D., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. (2009). The N400 as a correlate of interpretively relevant linguistic rules: Evidence from Hindi. Neuropsychologia, 3012(13), 47-3022.
2009 Wang, L., Schlesewsky, M., Bickel, B., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. (2009). Exploring the nature of the 'subject'-preference: Evidence from the online comprehension of simple sentences in Mandarin Chinese. Language and Cognitive Processes, 1180(7-8), 24-1226.
2009 Choudhary, K. K., Schlesewsky, M., Roehm, D., & Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, I. (2009). The N400 as a correlate of interpretively relevant linguistic rules: Evidence from Hindi. Neuropsychologia, 47(13), 3012-3022.
DOI Scopus53 Europe PMC31
2009 Kretzschmar, F., Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, I., & Schlesewsky, M. (2009). Parafoveal versus foveal N400s dissociate spreading activation from contextual fit. Neuroreport, 20(18), 1613-1618.
DOI Scopus70 Europe PMC46
2009 Wang, L., Schlesewsky, M., Bickel, B., & Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, I. (2009). Exploring the nature of the 'subject'-preference: Evidence from the online comprehension of simple sentences in Mandarin Chinese. Language and Cognitive Processes, 24(7-8), 1180-1226.
DOI Scopus58
2008 Demiral, S. B., Schlesewsky, M., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. D. (2008). On the universality of language comprehension strategies: Evidence from Turkish. Cognition, 106(1), 484-500.
DOI Scopus65 Europe PMC32
2008 Domahs, U., Wiese, R., Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., & Schlesewsky, M. (2008). The processing of German word stress: evidence for the prosodic hierarchy. Phonology, 1(1), 25-36.
DOI Scopus72
2008 Wolff, S., Schlesewsky, M., Hirotani, M., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. (2008). The neural mechanisms of word order processing revisited: Electrophysiological evidence from Japanese. Brain and language, 133(2), 107-157.
DOI Scopus83 Europe PMC47
2008 Philipp, M., Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., Bisang, W., & Schlesewsky, M. (2008). The role of animacy in the real time comprehension of Mandarin Chinese: Evidence from auditory event-related brain potentials. Brain and Language, 112(2), 105-133.
DOI Scopus59 Europe PMC35
2008 Bai, C., Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., Wang, L., Hung, Y. C., Schlesewsky, M., & Burkhardt, P. (2008). Semantic composition engenders an N400: evidence from Chinese compounds. NeuroReport, 19(6), 695-699.
DOI Scopus22 Europe PMC12
2008 Haupt, F. S., Schlesewsky, M., Roehm, D., Friederici, A. D., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. D. (2008). The status of subject-object reanalyses in the language comprehension architecture. Journal of Memory and Language, 59(1), 54-96.
DOI Scopus101
2008 Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. D., & Schlesewsky, M. (2008). An alternative perspective on 'semantic P600' effects in language comprehension. Brain research reviews, 59(1), 55-73.
DOI Scopus302 Europe PMC172
2007 Roehm, D., Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, I., Rösler, F., & Schlesewsky, M. (2007). To predict or not to predict: Influences of task and strategy on the processing of semantic relations. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 19(8), 1259-1274.
DOI Scopus134 Europe PMC81
2007 Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, I., & Schlesewsky, M. (2007). The wolf in sheep's clothing: Against a new judgement-driven imperialism. Theoretical Linguistics, 33(3), 319-333.
DOI Scopus18
2007 Grewe, T., Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, I., Zysset, S., Wiese, R., von Cramon, D. Y., & Schlesewsky, M. (2007). The role of the posterior superior temporal sulcus in the processing of unmarked transitivity. Neuroimage, 35(1), 343-352.
DOI Scopus68 Europe PMC37

Year Citation
2023 Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, I., & Schlesewsky, M. (2023). Processing Syntax and Morphology: A Neurocognitive Perspective. Oxford University PressOxford.
DOI Scopus81
2015 Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., Malchukov, A. L., & Richards, M. D. (Eds.) (2015). Scales and hierarchies: a cross-disciplinary perspective. Germany: De Gruyter.

Year Citation
2025 Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., & Schlesewsky, M. (2025). Processing syntax. In J. H. Grafman (Ed.), Source details - Title: Encyclopedia of the Human Brain (Vol. 2, pp. 442-457). Netherlands: Elsevier.
DOI
2024 Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, I., & Schlesewsky, M. (2024). Processing syntax. In Encyclopedia of the Human Brain Second Edition Volumes 1 5 (pp. V2-V2-457).
DOI
2016 Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., & Schumacher, P. B. (2016). Towards a neurobiology of information structure. In C. Féry, & S. Ishihara (Eds.), Source details - Title: The Oxford handbook of information structure (pp. 581-598). UK: Oxford University Press.
2015 Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., & Schlesewsky, M. (2015). The argument dependency model. In G. Hickok, & S. Small (Eds.), Source details - Title: Neurobiology of Language (pp. 357-369). UK: Academic Press.
DOI Scopus16
2015 Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., & Schlesewsky, M. (2015). Scales in real-time language comprehension: a review. In I. Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, A. Malchukov, & M. Richards (Eds.), Source details - Title: Scales and hierarchies: a cross-disciplinary perspective (pp. 321-352). Germany: De Gruyter Mouton.
DOI
2015 Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., Staub, A., & Schlesewsky, M. (2015). The timecourse of sentence processing in the brain. In G. Hickok, & S. Small (Eds.), Source details - Title: Neurobiology of Language (pp. 607-620). UK: Academic Press.
DOI Scopus15
2014 Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., & Schlesewsky, M. (2014). Competition in argument interpretation: evidence from the neurobiology of language. In B. MacWhinney, A. Malchukov, & A. Moravcsik (Eds.), Source details - Title: Competing motivations in grammar and usage (pp. 017-26). UK: Oxford University Press.
DOI
2014 Dröge, A., Maffongelli, L., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. (2014). Luigi piace a Laura?: Electrophysiological evidence for thematic reanalysis with Italian dative object experiencer verbs. In A. Bachrach, I. Roy, & L. Stockall (Eds.), Source details - Title: Structuring the argument: multidisciplinary research on verb argument structure (pp. 83-118). US: John Benjamins Publishing Co.
DOI
2013 Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., & Schlesewsky, M. (2013). Neurotypology: modeling crosslinguistic similarities and differences in the neurocognition of language comprehension. In M. Sanz, I. Laka, & M. K. Tanenhaus (Eds.), Source details - Title: Language down the garden path: the cognitive and biological basis for linguistic structures (pp. 241-252). UK: Oxford University Press.
DOI
2013 Schlesewsky, M., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. D. (2013). Computational primitives in syntax and possible brain correlates. In C. Boeckx, & K. K. Grohmann (Eds.), Source details - Title: The Cambridge handbook of biolinguistics (pp. 257-282). UK: Cambridge University Press.
2013 Schlesewsky, M., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. D. (2013). Computational primitives in morphology and possible brain correlates. In C. Boeckx, & K. K. Grohmann (Eds.), Source details - Title: The Cambridge handbook of biolinguistics (pp. 283-308). UK: Cambridge University Press.
2013 Bisang, W., Wang, L., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. (2013). Subjecthood in Chinese: neurolinguistics meets typology. In Z. Jing-Schmidt (Ed.), Source details - Title: Increased Empiricism: Recent advances in Chinese Linguistics (pp. 23-47). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Co.
2012 Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., & Friederici, A. D. (2012). Neuroimaging studies of sentence and discourse comprehension. In M. G. Gaskell (Ed.), Source details - Title: The Oxford handbook of psycholinguistics (pp. 407-424). UK: Oxford University Press.
DOI
2012 Wang, L. M., Schlesewsky, M., Philipp, M., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. D. (2012). The role of animacy in online argument interpretation in Mandarin Chinese. In M. Lamers, & P. P. Swart (Eds.), Source details - Title: Case, word order, and prominence. Interacting cues in language production and comprehension (Vol. 40, pp. 91-119). Berlin: Springer.
DOI Scopus17
2012 Kretzschmar, F., Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I., Staub, A., Roehm, D., & Schlesewsky, M. (2012). Prominence facilitates ambiguity resolution: On the interaction between referentiality, thematic roles and word order in syntactic reanalysis. In M. Lamers, & P. Swart (Eds.), Source details - Title: Case, word order, and prominence : Interacting cues in language production and comprehension (pp. 239-271). Netherlands: Springer.
DOI
2012 Kretzschmar, F., Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, I., Staub, A., Roehm, D., & Schlesewsky, M. (2012). Prominence Facilitates Ambiguity Resolution: On the Interaction Between Referentiality, Thematic Roles and Word Order in Syntactic Reanalysis. In Studies in Theoretical Psycholinguistics (Vol. 40, pp. 239-271). Springer Netherlands.
DOI Scopus15
2010 Schlesewsky, M., Choudhary, K. K., & Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. D. (2010). Grammatical transitivity vs. interpretive distinctness: The case for a separation of two levels of representation that are often conflated. In P. Brandt, & M. G. Garcia (Eds.), Source details - Title: Transitivity: form, meaning, acquisition, and processing (pp. 161-186). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Co.
2009 Roehm, D., Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. D., & Schlesewsky, M. (2009). The internal structure of the N400: frequency characteristics of a language related ERP component. In F. F. Orsucci, & N. Sala (Eds.), Source details - Title: Chaos and Complexity: New Research (pp. 357-387). US: Nova Science Publishers Inc.
Scopus2
2008 Bornkessel Schlesewsky, I. D., & Schlesewsky, M. (2008). Unmarked transitivity: A processing constraint on linking. In V. R. Valin (Ed.), Source details - Title: Investigations of the Syntax-semantics-pragmatics Interface (pp. 413-434). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Co.
2006 Schlesewsky, M., Bornkessel, I., & McElree, B. (2006). Decomposing gradience: quantitative versus qualitative distinctions. In Source details - Title: Gradience in grammar: generative perspectives (pp. 124-142). UK: Oxford University Press.
DOI

  • How free is free?: word order in Australian Indigenous languages, ARC - Discovery Projects, 01/01/2021 - 31/03/2026

  • Illuminating the neural basis of Mindchamps Music using electroencephalography (EEG), MindChamps Early Learning Australia Pty Ltd, 01/08/2023 - 31/12/2024

  • Using language to predict cognitive outcomes in old age, ARC - Future Fellowship, 01/01/2017 - 31/12/2021

  • HPRnet - Enhancing human performance in complex environments, Defence Science and Technology Group, 23/03/2017 - 23/05/2021

Courses I teach

  • BEHL 1024 Foundations in Cognitive Neuroscience (2025)
  • BEHL 2023 Data Science for Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology (2025)
  • BEHL 3028 Psychology Research Experience (2025)
  • BEHL 1024 Foundations in Cognitive Neuroscience (2024)
  • BEHL 2023 Data Science for Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology (2024)
  • BEHL 3028 Psychology Research Experience (2024)

Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
2024 Principal Supervisor Comparing Prediction Error Types and the Neurophysical Mechanisms in Modulating Memory Consolidation. Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Annaliese Anesbury
2024 Principal Supervisor The neural correlates of memory updating Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mrs Maya Al Safadi
2023 Co-Supervisor The influence of virtual realism on cognitive and neurocognitive aspects of design thinking Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Soroush Masoumzadeh
2022 Co-Supervisor Actors in context: investigating the neurobiological basis of linguistic actorhood in dynamic, multimodal and context-rich settings Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Vina Thanabalan
2017 Principal Supervisor Establishing trust in autonomous systems a neurocognitive investigation into the role of human factors Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Daniel Rogers

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