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Ursula Bellugi (February 21, 1931 – April 17, 2022) was an American cognitive neuroscientist. She was a Distinguished Professor Emerita and director of the Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience at the
Salk Institute The Salk Institute for Biological Studies is a scientific research institute located in the La Jolla community of San Diego, California, U.S. The independent, non-profit institute was founded in 1960 by Jonas Salk, the developer of the polio va ...
in
La Jolla, California La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood within the city of San Diego, California, United States, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. La Jolla is surrounded on ...
. She is known for research on the neurological bases of
American Sign Language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that is express ...
and language representation in people with
Williams Syndrome Williams syndrome (WS) is a genetic disorder that affects many parts of the body. Facial features frequently include a broad forehead, underdeveloped chin, short nose, and full cheeks. Mild to moderate intellectual disability is observed in peopl ...
.


Early life and education

Bellugi was born in
Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a popu ...
, Germany. Her father was Maximilian Herzberger, a physicist and mathematician at the University of Jena. He was Jewish and lost his job during the Third Reich. Albert Einstein helped him to emigrate to Rochester, NY, where he became head of the Kodak company's optical research laboratories.She studied psychology and received a
B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
from Antioch College in 1952 and an Ed.D. from
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
in 1967.


Career

In 1968 she moved to California, working at the
Salk Institute The Salk Institute for Biological Studies is a scientific research institute located in the La Jolla community of San Diego, California, U.S. The independent, non-profit institute was founded in 1960 by Jonas Salk, the developer of the polio va ...
. Beginning 1970 she was Director of its Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience. beginning 1977 she was an adjunct professor at the
University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...
and after 1995 at
San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...
. She was an associate with the Sloan Center for Theoretical Neurobiology at the Salk Institute.


Research

Broadly stated, she conducted research on the biological bases of language. More specifically, she studied the neurological bases of
American Sign Language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that is express ...
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. She also investigated the language abilities of individuals with
Williams Syndrome Williams syndrome (WS) is a genetic disorder that affects many parts of the body. Facial features frequently include a broad forehead, underdeveloped chin, short nose, and full cheeks. Mild to moderate intellectual disability is observed in peopl ...
, a puzzling genetically based disorder that leaves language, facial recognition and social skills remarkably well-preserved in contrast to severe inadequacy in other cognitive aptitudes. The search for the underlying biological basis for this disorder is providing new opportunities for understanding how brain structure and function relate to cognitive capabilities.


Honors and distinctions

Bellugi was recognized with numerous awards, including the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the
American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It has ...
(1992). In 2007 she was elected a fellow of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsi ...
, and in 2008 she was elected a member of the
National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Natio ...
. She was also on the advisory council of the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.


Personal life

In 1954 Bellugi married the Italian conductor Piero Bellugi., whom she divorced while in Cambridge. She conducted much of her research in collaboration with her second husband Edward Klima, a linguist who also specialized in the study of American Sign Language at the University of California San Diego (UCSD). She had two sons, David and Rob. She died on April 17, 2022, in
La Jolla, California La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood within the city of San Diego, California, United States, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. La Jolla is surrounded on ...
.


Publications


Books

# ''The Signs of Language.'' Klima, E.S., & Bellugi, U. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1979. —Paperback Edition, 1988; —Reprinted, 1995. (Award from Association of American Publishers for Most Outstanding Book in the Behavioral Sciences). # ''Signed and Spoken Language: Biological Constraints on Linguistic Form.'' Bellugi, U., & Studdert-Kennedy, M. Dahlem Konferenzen. Weinheim/Deerfield Beach, FL: Verlag Chemie, 1980. # ''What the Hands Reveal about the Brain.'' Poizner, H., Klima, E.S., & Bellugi, U. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press/Bradford Books, 1987. # ''Language, modality and the brain. Trends in Neurosciences.'' 10, 380–388. (Reprinted in M.H. Johnson, (Ed.), Brain development and cognition. London: Blackwell). # ''Clues to the neurobiology of language.'' Bellugi, U., & Hickok, G. Washington, DC: Library of Congress. # ''The signs of aphasia.'' In F. Boller & J. Grafman (Eds.), Handbook of neuropsychology, (2nd ed pp 38–50). Hickok, G., & Bellugi, U. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Elsevier Science Publishers. # ''Bridging cognition, brain and molecular genetics: Evidence from Williams syndrome.'' Trends in Neurosciences, 5, 197–208. Bellugi, U., Lichtenberger, L., Mills, D., Galaburda, A. & Korenberg, J.R. (1999). # ''Journey from cognition to brain to gene: New perspectives from Williams Syndrome.'' Bellugi, U. & St. George, M. (Eds.) Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2001. # ''Affect, social behavior and brain in Williams syndrome.'' Current Directions in Psychological Science. Bellugi, U., Järvinen-Pasley, A., Doyle, T., Reilly, J., & Korenberg, J. (2007). # ''Williams syndrome : A neurogenetic model of human behavior.'' In Encyclopedia of the Human Genome. Korenberg, J.R., Bellugi, U., Salandanan, L.S., Mills, D.L., & Reiss, A.L.


Selected publications

# Chailangkarn, Thanathom; Trujillo, Cleber A.; Freitas, Beatriz C.; Hrvoj-Mihic, Branka; Herai, Roberto H.; Yu, Diana X.; Brown, Timothy T.; Marchetto, Maria C.; Bardy, Cedric (2016-08-18). "A human neurodevelopmental model for Williams syndrome". ''Nature''. #Bhatara, A., Quintin, E.M., Levy, B., Bellugi, U., Fombonne, E., & Levitin, D.J. (2010). Perception of emotion in musical performance in adolescents with Autism spectrum disorder. ''Autism Research'', 3, 214–225. (PMCID: PMC2963682
PubMed


References


External links








Edward Klima Tribute
Salk Press Releases:
Salk scientist Ursula Bellugi elected to National Academy of Sciences

Three Salk scientists named 2007 AAAS Fellows

The Gregarious Gene?

Beyond nature vs. nurture: Williams syndrome across cultures

Williams syndrome, the brain, and music

Are There "Social Behavior" Genes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellugi, Ursula 1931 births 2022 deaths American women psychologists Linguists from the United States Developmental psycholinguists American cognitive neuroscientists Cognitive development researchers Women linguists American women neuroscientists German emigrants to the United States Harvard Graduate School of Education alumni San Diego State University faculty University of California, San Diego faculty Antioch College alumni Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Scientists from Jena Salk Institute for Biological Studies people 21st-century American women scientists Linguists of sign languages