Panos Athanasopoulos

Panos Athanasopoulos is a Professor in English Studies at the Centre for Languages and Literature, Lund University. His academic work focuses on the intersection of language and cognition, with particular emphasis on how linguistic structures shape cognitive processes across different languages and bilingual contexts.

His research interests span experimental cognitive linguistics, psycholinguistics, linguistic relativity, bilingual cognition, and language acquisition. Athanasopoulos investigates fundamental questions about language-driven human cognition, specifically how speakers of different languages perceive and think about the world differently, and how additional language learning transforms cognitive processes. Recent research has examined time metaphors on time perception, grammatical aspect and event representation, motion event cognition, grammatical gender effects on object and face perception, count/mass noun distinctions, and color terminology on categorical perception.

His publication record shows consistent output in high-impact journals, with recent work focusing on emotional processing in bilinguals, grammatical gender systems, and neural correlates of linguistic relativity. The research demonstrates a clear trajectory toward increasingly sophisticated methodologies including electrophysiological measures applied to cross-linguistic cognitive phenomena.

• Researcher, LAMiNATE (Language Acquisition, Multilingualism, and Teaching)
• Profile area member, LU Profile Area: Natural and Artificial Cognition
• Supervisor for doctoral projects including 'Sentient Bodies of Land and Water'

Athanasopoulos actively contributes to the academic community through supervision of doctoral students and participation in interdisciplinary research projects that bridge linguistics, cognitive science, and neuroscience. His teaching portfolio includes courses on multilingual cognition, linguistic options, and philosophy of science for linguists, reflecting his commitment to training the next generation of researchers in cognitive linguistics.