Emmorey's research is broadly focused on the neurobiology of language. She studies language processing in the brain among those who use sign language and among those who are bilingual users of a sign language and an oral language. Her research team has found similarities in how the brain processes language regardless of modality while also uncovering differences in neural processing that arise from utilizing different modalities of language. In one of her notable studies, Emmorey and her colleagues documented advantages in
visual imagery among sign language users (both hearing and deaf individuals) in the context of detecting mirror image reversals when compared to non-signers. In a study utilizing
fMRI, Emmorey's team found similarities in how the brain processes
symbolic gestures (pantomime and emblems) and spoken language, suggesting involvement of a left-lateralized cortical network in mapping symbolic gestures or spoken words onto conceptual representations. Emmorey's research has been integral to the study of bilingualism, especially as it focuses on multiple modalities of bilingualism. She has conducted research on the controversial subject of whether bilinguals have advantages in
executive functioning. Emmorey and her colleagues looked at possible
cognitive advantages in those who are bilingual in multiple modalities (speaking and signing) and those who are bilingual in the same modality (speaking). They found that bimodal bilinguals performed the same as monolinguals on a set of
flanker tasks assessing
inhibitory control, whereas unimodal bilinguals were faster than both monolinguals and bimodal bilinguals on the tasks. These findings suggested that the bilingual advantage may be found only in unimodal bilinguals, perhaps as a consequence of their switching between two or more languages in the same modality. == Books ==