Talking Brains

Comprehension, intelligibility, neural oscillations: two interesting new papers

2012-05-23T12:46:00.002-07:00

There are two new papers on the neurophysiological correlates of speech and language processing that are quite interesting. They are closely related to each other and are fun to read (and discuss) as a pair. Both compare the responses to intelligible versus unintelligible speech using neuronal oscillations as the metric. One group focuses on the gamma band, one on the theta band. Both papers do a terrific job motivating the study, and both show some nice analyses.

One paper is by Marcela Peña and Lucia Melloni and just appeared in the Journal of Cognitive Neurocience. Brain Oscillations during Spoken Sentence Processing, May 2012, Vol. 24, No. 5, Pages 1149-1164.

Marcela and Lucia used high-density EEG and employed a cross-linguistic design. They recorded from Spanish and Italian participants while they were listening to Spanish, Italian, or Japanese. The study derives from the perspective of 'binding by synchrony,' a position that continues to receive a lot of attention in systems and cognitive neuroscience - but is not yet as widely investigated in speech/language studies. The assumption is that when listening to a language that the listener understands (i.e. there is comprehension at the sublexical, lexical, syntactic, semantic levels), whatever neural signal reflects 'binding' across the populations that need to be coordinated will be enhanced in the intelligible conditions (i.e. Spanish for Spanish speakers, Italian for Italian speakers). What they observe is that the gamma band is selectively enhanced during the sentence when it is comprehended. (Their figures 1 and 5 tell the whole story.) They conclude that the low-frequency, theta activity tracks lower-level information, the (lower) gamma band reflects what happens in intelligible speech, i.e. binding of higher level representations. Overall, this supports a binding-by-synchrony style view for language processing.

And a slightly different perspective/conclusion ...

The other paper is by Jonathan Peelle, Joachim Gross, and Matt Davis and is in Cerebral Cortex. Phase-Locked Responses to Speech in Human Auditory Cortex are Enhanced During Comprehension, doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhs118.

Jonathan, Joachim, and Matt used MEG and presented listeners with vocoded speech that was either intelligible (16 channels), partially intelligible (4 channels), or unintelligible (1 channel). They also presented a 4 channel unintelligible condition (spectrally rotated). They calculate a quantity they call 'cerebro-acoustic coherence', used to quantify the relation between the envelopes of the stimuli and the low-frequency (4-7 Hz) neural response. They show that when a sentence is intelligible, the coherence is systematically higher. (Their figures 1 and 4 pretty much tell the story.) Of special interest is their observation that there is an MTG-centered, left lateralized activation when comparing 4 channel intelligible versus unintelligible stimuli. This adds further support to the key role MTG plays for (lexically mediated) intelligibility. Moreover, their data challenge what some of my collaborators and I have argued (theta tracking is acoustic; e.g. Howard & Poeppel 2010, 2012 etc.)

A little whining, some small regrets ... There are three things I would like to hear about from Marcela and Lucia. (i) Why not analyze the low frequency response components in more detail? (ii) Why not look at the phase, and focus solely on power? (iii) Why did the gamma band response in the intelligible conditions not start till 1000 ms after the sentence has started? Presumably the first second of a sentence is also understood ... And from Jonathan, Joachim and Matt, I would have liked to know (i) Why no analyses of the higher frequencies, e.g. the low gamma band? (ii) Why no analyses of power? (iii) Why are the behavioral data for 4 channels (fig 1E) so different from the rest of the literature using such materials (Shannon, Drullman etc.)?

Notwithstanding a little complaining, these are very cool papers! So, if we could have these two articles date, and have them generate a paper-offspring, baby paper, I could imagine seeing some interesting alignments between theta and gamma that reflect intelligibility. Maybe we need both regimes of neuronal oscillations to generate usable representations ....

POSTDOCTORAL POSITION - CENTER FOR LANGUAGE SCIENCE - The Pennsylvania State University

2012-05-10T12:20:00.005-07:00

POSTDOCTORAL POSITION
CENTER FOR LANGUAGE SCIENCE
The Pennsylvania State University

The Center for Language Science (CLS) at The Pennsylvania State University (http://cls.psu.edu/) invites applications for an anticipated postdoctoral position. The CLS is home to a cross-disciplinary research program that includes a new NSF training program, Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE): Bilingualism, mind, and brain: An interdisciplinary program in cognitive psychology, linguistics, and cognitive neuroscience. The program provides training in research on bilingualism that includes an international perspective and that exploits opportunities for collaborative research conducted with one of our international partner sites in the UK (Bangor, Wales), Germany (Leipzig), Spain (Granada and Tarragona), The Netherlands (Nijmegen), Sweden (Lund) and China (Hong Kong and Beijing) and in conjunction with our two domestic partner sites at Haskins Labs and the VL2 Science of Learning Center at Gallaudet University. The successful postdoctoral candidate will have an opportunity to engage in collaborative research within the Center's international network.

We welcome applications from candidates with preparation in any of the disciplines that contribute to our program. The successful candidate will benefit from a highly interactive group of faculty whose interests include bilingual language processing, language acquisition in children and adults, and language contact, among other topics. Applicants with interests in these topics and with an interest in extending their expertise within experimental psycholinguistics and cognitive neuroscience are particularly welcome to apply. There is no expectation that applicants will have had prior experience in research on bilingualism but we expect candidates to make a commitment to gain expertise in research on bilingualism and also in using neuroscience methods, including both fMRI and ERPs. There is also a possibility of teaching one course during the academic year in the Program in Linguistics.

Questions about faculty research interests may be directed to relevant core training faculty: Psychology: Judith Kroll, Ping Li, Janet van Hell, and Dan Weiss; Spanish: Rena Torres Cacoullos, Giuli Dussias, John Lipski, and Karen Miller; Communication Sciences and Disorders: Carol Miller; German: Carrie Jackson, Mike Putnam, and Richard Page. Administrative questions can be directed to the Director of the Center for Language Science, Judith Kroll: jfk7@psu.edu. More information about the Center for Language Science (CLS), about the PIRE program, and faculty research programs can be found at http://cls.psu.edu or http://cls.psu.edu/PIRE.

The initial appointment will be for one year, with a strong possibility of renewal for the next year. Salary and benefits follow NSF/NIH guidelines. The search is open to all eligible candidates regardless of citizenship.
Applicants should send a CV, several reprints or preprints, and a statement of research interests. This statement should indicate two or more core faculty members as likely primary and secondary mentors and should describe the candidate's goals for research and training during a postdoctoral position, including previous experience and directions in which the candidate would like to develop his/her expertise in the language science of bilingualism. Candidates interested in gaining teaching experience should include information on teaching experience and preparation. Applicants should arrange for three letters of recommendation to be sent separately.

Application materials and letters of recommendation should be sent electronically to pirepostdoc@gmail.com. We will begin to review applications by June 10, 2012. We will consider applications until the position is filled. The appointment can begin as soon as August 1, 2012. We encourage applications from individuals of diverse backgrounds. Penn State is committed to affirmative action, equal opportunity and the diversity of its workforce.

Why are speech/language neuroscientists NOT concerned about bias in their behavioral measurements?

2012-05-09T14:42:00.000-07:00

Perceptual decisions involve two processes, perceptual analysis and response selection, both of which can affect typical behavioral measures such as percent correct or reaction time. Crucially, response selection is strongly affected by response bias, the criterion that a given subject sets for responding one way or another under a particular set of task conditions. For example, if I ask you to tell me when you hear the syllable /ba/ in a noisy environment, and I tell you that I will give you $100 each time you say "yes" correctly (a hit), but will charge you $500 each time you say "yes" incorrectly (a false positive), you will be biased to be very conservative in saying "yes". I can push around your bias depending on how I set up the task. Presumably, brain damage or temporary modulation of neural activity (e.g., TMS) could also, in principle, change the task conditions for the subject and bias responses, so we have to be equally careful when we manipulate the system neurophysiologically.

Happily, there is a well-worked out method for measuring the perceptual and decision components of the task. It's called signal detection theory. Yet most speech/language neuroscientist fail to use SDT methods to control for response bias. The results of such studies are potentially contaminated.

For example, this is true of ALL of the TMS studies of the role of the motor system in speech perception/recognition. And it is true of the latest study in this line of experiments. I've pasted the abstract in below.

This study stimulated with theta-burst TMS the hand motor area and showed a change in response times in lexical decision to hand action verbs but not non-action verbs. They conclude that "premotor cortex has a functional role in action-language understanding."

Here's why you can't conclude this from the study: the dependent measure, RT, is susceptible to response bias and therefore can be modulated either by perceptual/recognition processes (the process under investigation) OR by biasing the decision process. The result is therefore ambiguous and as a result cannot lead to the conclusion the authors wish to make.

Psychol Sci. 2011 Jul;22(7):849-54. Epub 2011 Jun 24.

A functional role for the motor system in language understanding: evidence from theta-burst transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Willems RM, Labruna L, D'Esposito M, Ivry R, Casasanto D.

Source

1Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, USA. roel.willems@donders.ru.nl

Abstract

Does language comprehension depend, in part, on neural systems for action? In previous studies, motor areas of the brain were activated when people read or listened to action verbs, but it remains unclear whether such activation is functionally relevant for comprehension. In the experiments reported here, we used off-line theta-burst transcranial magnetic stimulation to investigate whether a causal relationship exists between activity in premotor cortex and action-language understanding. Right-handed participants completed a lexical decision task, in which they read verbs describing manual actions typically performed with the dominant hand (e.g., "to throw," "to write") and verbs describing nonmanual actions (e.g., "to earn," "to wander"). Responses to manual-action verbs (but not to nonmanual-action verbs) were faster after stimulation of the hand area in left premotor cortex than after stimulation of the hand area in right premotor cortex. These results suggest that premotor cortex has a functional role in action-language understanding.

Two Positions - MARCS Institute, Univ of Western Sydney

2012-05-04T08:31:00.001-07:00

Ref 453/12:

Career Development Fellowship in Multisensory Processing (Behaviour based methods), MARCS Institute

MARCS Institute is a vibrant interdisciplinary research institute of the University of Western Sydney. Research at MARCS is conducted in five interdisciplinary research programs: Speech & Language, Music Cognition & Action, Bioelectronics & Neuroscience, Multisensory Processing, and Human Machine Interaction. MARCS is located on the Bankstown, Campbelltown, Kingswood and Parramatta Campuses.

MARCS is seeking to fill a Career Development Fellowship in Multisensory Processing (Behaviour based methods). The successful applicant would be involved in experimentally-based research investigating multisensory processing involving behavioural methods, including the development of experimental protocols and specialised analyses, e.g., Bayesian approaches, motion tracking analysis.

Eligibility: To apply for this position you must have recently completed a PhD qualification in cognitive psychology or cognate discipline and are required to submit a research and scholarly activity plan.

Importantly, we seek an energetic, forward thinking, dynamic, and innovative scholar to take on this Career Development Fellowship. The successful applicant is expected to be developing a strong international standing and research reputation, an excellent research background in the area of cognitive psychology and multisensory processing, the potential to win competitive research income, and an excellent publication record.

Fixed term for a period of two years with the possibility for a further fixed term appointment of two years (subject to satisfactory assessment).

The position will be based on the Bankstown campus.

Remuneration Package: Academic Level B $101,761 to $120,078 p.a. (comprising Salary $85,989 to $101,538 p.a., 17% Superannuation and Leave Loading).

Position Enquiries: Professor Christopher Davis, on (02) 9772 6855 or emailchris.davis@uws.edu.au

Closing Date: 17 June 2012

For a copy of the Position Description and information on how to apply, go tohttps://uws.nga.net.au/cp/

-----------------

Ref 454/12:

Career Development Fellowship in Multisensory Processing (Brain based methods), MARCS Institute

MARCS Institute is a vibrant interdisciplinary research institute of the University of Western Sydney. Research at MARCS is conducted in five interdisciplinary research programs: Speech & Language, Music Cognition & Action, Bioelectronics & Neuroscience, Multisensory Processing, and Human Machine Interaction. MARCS is located on the Bankstown, Campbelltown, Kingswood and Parramatta Campuses.

MARCS is seeking to fill a Career Development Fellowship in Multisensory Processing (Brain based methods). The successful applicant would be involved in experimental based research investigating multisensory processing involving behavioural and functional image-based, e.g., EEG/ERP/fMRI or neuro-activation methods and development of experimental protocols.

Eligibility: To apply for this position you must have recently completed a PhD qualification in cognitive neuroscience, neuroscience, and/or cognitive psychology and are required to submit a research and scholarly activity plan.

Importantly, we seek an energetic, forward thinking, dynamic, and innovative scholar to take on this Career Development Fellowship. The successful applicant is expected to be developing a strong international standing and research reputation, an excellent research background in the area of cognitive neuroscience, neuroscience, and/or cognitive psychology, the potential to win competitive research income, and an excellent publication record.

Fixed term for a period of two years with the possibility for a further fixed term appointment of two years (subject to satisfactory assessment).

The position will be based on the Bankstown campus.

Remuneration Package: Academic Level B $101,761 to $120,078 p.a. (comprising Salary $85,989 to $101,538 p.a., 17% Superannuation and Leave Loading).

Position Enquiries: Professor Christopher Davis, on (02) 9772 6855 or emailchris.davis@uws.edu.au

Closing Date: 17 June 2012

For a copy of the Position Description and information on how to apply, go tohttps://uws.nga.net.au/cp/

Post-Doctoral Position in Spoken Language Comprehension in Aphasia

2012-04-17T11:14:00.001-07:00

Post-Doctoral Position in Spoken Language Comprehension in Aphasia

Applications are invited for at least one post-doctoral position in
the Language and Cognitive Dynamics Laboratory directed by Dr. Dan
Mirman at Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute (MRRI: www.mrri.org)
to study the neural basis of spoken language processing. The
postdoctoral researcher will take a leading role in designing and
conducting computational and experimental (behavioral and
eye-tracking) work on phonological, semantic, and cognitive control
aspects of spoken language comprehension in aphasia. The project
combines cognitive neuropsychology, computational modeling, and
eye-tracking methods – background in at least one of those is
preferred, training in the others will be provided.

MRRI is a vibrant collaborative research center in the Greater
Philadelphia area focusing on cognitive neuroscience and cognitive
rehabilitation with a particular focus on language and aphasia. In
addition to primary research with Dr. Mirman, the post provides
opportunities to collaborate with researchers at MRRI, University of
Pennsylvania, and Temple University, and to learn cognitive
neuropsychology, computational modeling, eye-tracking, voxel-based
lesion-symptom mapping, TMS and tDCS, and functional neuroimaging.

The successful candidate will have a doctorate in cognitive
psychology, cognitive science, cognitive neuroscience, linguistics, or
related field, a strong interest in computational modeling and/or
cognitive neuropsychology, and be interested in developing an
independent research career. Send CV, letter describing research
interests and goals, and at least 2 letters of recommendation to Dr.
Dan Mirman at dan@danmirman.org, or
Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute
50 Township Line Rd.
Elkins Park, PA 19027

Neurobiology of Language Conference (NLC) - Abstract submissions OPEN!

2012-04-16T16:21:00.001-07:00

NLC 2012 will be held in San Sebastian, Spain, Oct 25-27.

Abstract submissions are now open. Visit the Society for the Neurobiology of Language webpage and click the 'conference' tab for information. Keynotes and debate sessions have been scheduled:

Keynote Sessions

Barbara K. Finlay

Beyond columns and areas: developmental gradients and regionalization of the neocortex and their likely consequences for functional organization.

Barb Finlay is a Professor of Psychology, Cornell University. Professor Finlay holds the William R. Kenan Chair of Psychology and is co-Editor of Brain and Behavioral Sciences. Finlay is an expert on the evolution and development of sensory systems and the cerebral cortex.

Nikos K. Logothetis

In vivo Connectivity: Paramagnetic Tracers, Electrical Stimulation & Neural-Event Triggered fMRI

Nikos Logothetis is the Director of the Department of Cognitive Processes at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tubingen, Germany. Logothetis is well known for his studies of the physiological mechanisms underlying visual perception and object recognition as well as his more recent work on measurements of how the functional magnetic resonance imaging signal relate to neural activity. Logothetis will talk to us on:

Panel Discussions

Nina F. Dronkers vs Julius Fridriksson

What is the role of the insula in speech and language?

Nina Dronkers is the Director of the Center for Aphasia and Related Disorders, and Adjunct Professor of Neurology and Language, U.C. Davis, California. Dronkers is an expert in the Aphasia and more generally the cerebral localization of language.

Julius Fridriksson is a Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina, and Director of the Aphasia Laboratory, UNC. Fridriksson is well known for his work in aphasia – neuroimaging and treatment.

Matthew Lambon Ralph vs Jeffrey R. Binder

Role of Angular Gyrus in Semantic Processing

Matt Lambon Ralph is a Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and Associate Vice-President Research, University of Manchester, U.K. His lab uses neuropsychology, computational modeling, TMS, and functional neuroimaging to investigage semantic memory, language, recovery, rehabilitation, and neuroplasticity.

Jeffrey Binder, M.D. is a Professor of Neurology at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Director of the Language Imaging Laboratory. Professor Binder has made important contributions on the neural basis of language (esp. speech and word recognition) and is the incoming president of SNL.

POSTDOCTORAL POSITION - MEG/EEG - National Institutes of Health, NIDCD Division of Intramural Research

2012-04-02T10:37:00.002-07:00

POSTDOCTORAL POSITION - MEG/EEG - National Institutes of Health, NIDCD Division of Intramural Research

Applications are invited for a postdoctoral position in the Language Section, NIDCD, National Institutes of Health, to study paralinguistic processes, social interaction, and related issues using MEG/EEG. The research will focus on discourse level language comprehension and production in naturalistic contexts. Investigations will be carried out in normal adults and clinical populations including stroke, traumatic brain injury and stuttering. Major experimental methods include MEG source analysis, time-frequency analysis and simultaneous EEG-fMRI.

Applicants should have a doctoral-level degree in neuroscience, psychology, medicine or a related area. Prior experience in MEG/EEG experimental design, data acquisition and analysis is necessary. Advanced skills for time series analysis and MATLAB programming are highly desirable. Experience with fMRI is preferred but not required. Salary will be commensurate with the salary scale of the National Institute of Health, NIDCD Division of Intramural Research. The position is funded for two to five years. Applications will be considered until the position is filled.

For further information or to submit an application (including a brief CV and two references) please contact Allen Braun, M.D. email: brauna@nidcd.nih.gov.

Some low-level research from TB East

2012-04-01T21:17:00.001-07:00

One of the issues I have been thinking about for some time now concerns cortical oscillations and their potential role for speech processing. This topic continues to be debated vigorously. (At the Auditory Cortex Conference this coming September in Lausanne, I will be moderating a debate between Charlie Schroeder and Shihab Shamma; that should be quite lively ...) In a new paper, Anne-Lise Giraud and I outline a hypothesis what sorts of operations oscillations at different scales could be useful for. This paper makes some pretty strong predictions about the perceptual analysis of continuous speech and spike trains. We are obviously interested in feedback.

Cortical oscillations and speech processing: emerging computational principles and operations.

Giraud AL, Poeppel D.

Nat Neurosci. 2012 15(4):511-7. doi: 10.1038/nn.3063.

And on a similarly low-level topic: It has become commonplace to argue that as one ascends the auditory hierarchy, and especially as one goes from core to belt and parabelt areas, sensitivity to broadband (and complex) sounds increases. Tones and narrow-band sounds principally excite core fields, on this view. In a pair of studies using fMRI and MEG, we crossed bandwidth and modulation frequency. We find that bandwidth (while crucial at the inferior colliculus) doesn't play as central a role as modulation rate. Both studies converge in a striking way, showing that auditory cortex is exquisitely sensitive to low modulation rates, and precisely in the range that forms the basis for spoken language processing (i.e. great below ~16Hz, best below 8 Hz). We are interested in figuring out how our findings reconcile with the single-unit data providing a very different perspective (at least with regard to spectral sensitivity).

Sensitivity to Temporal Modulation Rate and Spectral Bandwidth in the Human Auditory System: MEG Evidence.

Wang Y, Ding N, Ahmar N, Xiang J, Poeppel D, Simon JZ.

J Neurophysiol. 2011

Sensitivity to temporal modulation rate and spectral bandwidth in the human auditory system: fMRI evidence.

Overath T, Zhang Y, Sanes DH, Poeppel D.

J Neurophysiol. 2012

Post doc position - Cognitive Neuroscience of Language Lab, U of Maryland

2012-03-30T15:13:00.002-07:00

Applications are solicited for a postdoctoral position in the Cognitive Neuroscience of Language lab at the University of Maryland Department of Linguistics to conduct fMRI research on written and spoken language comprehension. This postdoctoral fellow will work with Dr. Ellen Lau to implement fMRI research projects, oversee the establishment of fMRI analysis pipelines, and provide support to PhD students conducting fMRI experiments. The appointment would be for one year beginning in Fall or Winter 2012, with possibility of renewal for a second year. Applicants should have a PhD in cognitive neuroscience, psychology, linguistics, or a related field, and demonstrated experience conducting language processing research with fMRI. International applicants are welcome.

The Department of Linguistics (http://ling.umd.edu) is part of a large and vibrant community of language scientists across the UMD campus (http://languagescience.umd.edu/). The 3T MRI scanner was installed on campus last year as the centerpiece of the new Maryland Neuroimaging Center, and the department also houses state-of-the-art facilities for conducting EEG and MEG research.

Applicants should send a cover letter, a statement of research interests, relevant manuscripts and publications, and 3 letters of reference to Dr. Ellen Lau at ellenlau@umd.edu.

How does visual speech modulate auditory speech perception?

2012-03-30T13:03:00.000-07:00

There are two current views. One is that visual speech provides cues as to the motor gestures that generated the speech sounds and this motor information generates an efference copy that modulates auditory speech.

AV speech elicits in the listener a motor plan for the production of the phoneme that the speaker might have been attempting to produce, and that feedback in the form of efference copy from the motor system ultimately influences the phonetic interpretation. -Skipper et al. 2007

The other is that AV integration is achieved without the motor system, via cross-sensory integration in the STS (Nath & Beauchamp, 2012).

I came across a 15-year-old study recently that make a pretty strong case against the motor-based account. Rosenblum et al. (1997) decided to assess whether individuals who do not know how to produce speech, nonetheless show a McGurk effect. Their study population? 5-month-old infants. The paradigm? Habituation of looking time (present the same thing over and over and see how long it takes the kid to get bored and stop looking). Basic result from four experiments? Habituation to auditory syllables was modulated by visual speech information: pre lingual infants show a McGurk effect.

AV integration seems to be primarily sensory-, not motor-driven.

Nath, A.R. and M.S. Beauchamp, A neural basis for interindividual differences in the McGurk effect, a multi sensory speech illusion. Neuroimage, 2012. 59(1): p. 781-7.

Rosenblum, L.D., M.A. Schmuckler, and J.A. Johnson, The McGurk effect in infants. Percept Psychophys, 1997. 59(3): p. 347-57.

Skipper, J.I., et al., Hearing lips and seeing voices: how cortical areas supporting speech production mediate audiovisual speech perception. Cereb Cortex, 2007. 17(10): p. 2387-99.

New Rule #1

2012-03-27T08:45:00.002-07:00

Use of the following terms are now banned when used without qualification:

phonological processing
morphological processing
syntactic processing

Such terms need to be followed by phrases such as "___ in the context of task ..." or something similar. To use these terms alone is meaningless. David tried to point this out back in 1996:

Poeppel, D., A critical review of PET studies of language. Brain and Language, 1996. 55: p. 317-351

(PET studies? What's that? Dude, you're old, ha!) The point was that the pattern of neural activity varies depending on what task is used to measure "x processing". This point was again underlined in each of the Hickok and Poeppel papers. Yet, I still see people saying things like "Broca's area activity is strongly correlated with phonological processing ability". That's kind of like the language equivalent of saying V5/MT activity is strongly correlated with visual processing. Ok, true in some cases, but not in others and even when it is true the statement isn't very helpful in the context of understanding neural circuits for information processing.

Sixteen years after David's 1996 paper (dude, you're old!) we know a little bit more about how language is organized in the brain. The circuits that are involved in x processing vary depending on whether the task is production or comprehension based, whether the materials are written or spoken, whether the task requires conscious attention to x or is more automatic, and so on. There's no excuse for using vague terminology anymore. It's just muddling the field.

Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Cognitive Neuroimaging, University of Saskatchewan

2012-03-21T18:04:00.001-07:00

Applications are invited for a Post-Doctoral Fellow, jointly supported by Dr. Ron Borowsky’s Cognitive Neuroscience of Language lab (Dept. of Psychology, College of Arts and Science), and the Department of Medical Imaging (College of Medicine), effective July 1, 2012 or Sept 1, 2012, for one year, with the possibility of renewal for a second year pending successful review and budget. The salary is $40000-$50000 CDN, depending on expertise. Applicants should have a PhD in the field of Cognitive Neuroscience, and demonstrated experience in advanced neuroimaging techniques including functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI). The successful applicant will be supervised by Prof. Borowsky (Cognitive Neuroscience of Language lab), and will spend approximately 25%-time doing clinical fMRI, and 75%-time doing research fMRI, at Royal University Hospital along with faculty in the Department of Medical Imaging. Some teaching to Medical Imaging staff and trainees is expected. For every hour of clinical fMRI magnet time, an hour of research fMRI magnet time will be accrued for collaborative research with the Cognitive Neuroscience of Language lab. The candidate should be proficient with Brain Voyager and/or related fMRI analysis software, as well as EPrime experimental programming software. Proficiency in Diffusion Tensor Imaging is also an asset. Applying to tri-council agencies (eg., NSERC, CIHR) for post-doctoral funding for any years after the first year is expected.

Applications consisting of a cover letter, statement of research background and interests, cv, copies of relevant publications, and 3 letters of reference should be sent electronically and by mail to:

Prof. Ron Borowsky (ron.borowsky@usask.ca)

Psychology Department

University of Saskatchewan

9 Campus Drive

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Canada S7N 5A5

Review of applications will begin April 30^th, 2012 until the position is filled.

The University of Saskatchewan is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, a city with a diverse and thriving economic base, a vibrant arts community and a full range of leisure opportunities.

Located in the heart of Saskatoon, the University of Saskatchewan is one of Canada’s leading research-intensive universities. It is home to the Canadian Light Source national synchrotron and the VIDO-International Vaccine Centre, and features a robust research community. Signature areas of strength include human and animal health; synchrotron sciences; engagement and scholarship with Aboriginal peoples; agriculture, food and bioproducts; energy and mineral resources; and water security.

The University offers a full range of undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs to a student population of more than 20,000. World-class research facilities, renowned faculty and award-winning students make the U of S a leader in post-secondary education.

On the relation between linguistic categories and neural systems - Guest post from Harvey Sussman

2012-03-19T14:55:00.001-07:00

Guest post from Harvey Sussman, Department of Linguistics, UT Austin.

Don’t get me wrong, I love adjectives. They are among my favorite words, but I don’t think they should play a role in investigations in how language is represented in the human brain. They certainly have a role to play for phonologists attempting to uncover the natural classes of segments in the world’s languages. Linnaeus did well with his taxonomic system, so why shouldn’t phonologists have a go at it too? The real problem, in my mind, arises when linguists use featural specifications to explain how language is structured in a biological system: “the natural phonological classes must arise from and be explained by the particular way in which UG [Universal Grammar] organizes the information that determines how human language is articulated and perceived” (Kenstowicz, 1994, p. 19). So these descriptive features (the adjectives), be they acoustic or gestural, define the natural classes of language sounds, which in turn reflect the phonetic properties of our biologically endowed, genetically specified, language faculty. Once defined, they lead us to the phonologically active classes that, in turn, control the phonological processes underlying language (Mielke, 2008). Those are pretty amazing and magical descriptive labels.

When fMRI studies are designed to uncover the existence of discrete representations of features in language cortex, or MEG data interpreted by turning to underspecification notions of featural representations, we fall into the isomorphism fallacy— “to take the products of description and assign them explanatory, causal status” (Bellugi & Studdert-Kennedy, 1980, p. 92). Real explanations must come from “principles that are independent of the domain of the observations themselves (Lindblom, 1980, p. 18).”

The linguistically-driven search for memory structures in the human brain mapping featural-based entities could be compared to neuroethologists investigating echo location processing in the bat and claiming to find areas showing [+fast/-fast] or [+far/-far] ‘features’ in auditory areas of the bat’s brain. Such descriptive labels do not substitute for real time explanations such as auditory neurons sensitive to the various doppler shifts in the returning second harmonic (60kHz) echo, or the time delay of the echo signal relative to the emitting pulse. Acoustic signals shaped by the laws of physics is what the brain listens to and what underlies the perception and ultimate representations of sounds, whether they be contrastive segments of a human language, or species-specific sounds heard by bats. Admittedly, such sounds are arranged along a continuum, and do not lend themselves to binary classifications, but the analogy should hit home. Ultimately, the physical signals that shape the information-bearing parameters of speech segments is all we need to concern ourselves with. Combination-sensitive auditory neurons do not care about featural labels. Taxonomic classifications of sound systems are meant for textbooks and box and arrow functional models of language structure, not biological tissue.

References

Bellugi, U ., and Studdert-Kennedy M, . (1980) ( Eds.) . "Signed and spoken

language: Biological constraints on linguistic form," Life Sci. Res. Rep.

19, Report of the Dahlem Workshop, 24-28 March, Berlin; Verlag Chemie,

Weinheim.

Kenstowicz, M. (1994). Phonology in Generative Grammar, Oxford: Blackwell.

Lindblom, B. (1980). The goal of phonetics, its unification and application.

Phonetica, 37, 7-26.

Mielke, J. (2008). The Emergence of Distinctive Features. Oxford: Oxford

University Press.

Carl Wernicke reflecting on science

2012-03-16T12:00:00.000-07:00

I came across this quote that I think reveals something about Wernicke's thoughtful and careful approach to science and in particular his penchant for questioning dogma. It is from roughly two decades after the publication of his ground-breaking 1874 monograph on aphasia.

In the course of years I have yet much to learn, but also much I have accepted as true from others has proved inaccurate. I believe that this double-edged discovery spares no one who holds an earnest striving, and that one need not thereby be wholly disenchanted.

If man would not be a mere counting-machine or registrar, he remains exposed to error. But should he, therefore, hold the counting-machine as his ideal? May that thought hold as little sway in my riper years, as it has in the past.

-Carl Wernicke, Breslau, 1892

Dept of Psychology, University of Wisconsin - Postdoctoral position in language

2012-03-05T13:23:00.001-08:00

Postdoctoral Position in Language. Faculty in the Department of Psychology and the Department of Communicative Disorders at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are soliciting applications for a postdoctoral position in their NIH-funded Language Training Program: Acquisition and Adult Performance. The Program emphasizes the continuum of language acquisition to the adult state, including both language comprehension and production and both typical and atypical performance. The participating Psychology faculty are Martha Alibali, Morton Ann Gernsbacher, Maryellen MacDonald, Tim Rogers, Jenny Saffran, and Mark Seidenberg; participating faculty in Communicative Disorders are Jan Edwards and Susan Ellis Weismer. More information about language research and training faculty can be found at http://psych.wisc.edu/gradstudies/NewLanguage.html (for the six Psychology faculty) and at http://www.comdis.wisc.edu/research.htm (for Drs. Edwards and Ellis Weismer).

The successful candidate will benefit from our cohesive group of faculty whose interests span language processes from speech perception to discourse, typical and atypical performance, and from infancy through adulthood. Applicants should have developed research interests in one or more areas of language acquisition, adult comprehension, or adult production. They should be open to expanding their understanding of the relationship between acquisition and adult performance, though there is no requirement to conduct research in multiple age groups.

The position is for one year, with renewal for a second year pending satisfactory performance. Salary and benefits are set by NIH guidelines. Provisions of the training program limit funding to US citizens and permanent residents (green card holders). The candidate must have completed the Ph.D. before beginning the position. Ideally the position will begin in the Fall of 2012, but starting dates up to April 30, 2013 are permitted.

Applicants should send a CV, several reprints or preprints, and a statement of research interests. This statement should indicate a Language Training Program faculty member who would serve as a primary mentor, and optionally indicate additional training faculty to serve as a secondary mentor(s).The statement should also describe the candidate's goals for research and training during a postdoctoral position, including potential directions in which the candidate would like continue ongoing research and/or to expand his/her expertise into additional areas of language research, consistent with the goals of the training program. Applicants should also provide names of three recommenders and arrange for letters of recommendation to be sent separately. Applicant quality and fit with program faculty research are the primary criteria. Application materials and inquiries about the training program should be sent to languagepostdocs@mailplus.wisc.edu. Inquiries about faculty research can be directed to individual faculty. For fullest consideration, all materials should be received by April 30, 2012; however, we will consider applications until the position is filled. UW-Madison is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Women and members of underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply.

Senior jobs: RESEARCH SENIOR FACULTY POSITIONS at the BCBL- San Sebastián

2012-02-17T16:47:00.001-08:00

RESEARCH SENIOR FACULTY POSITIONS at the BCBL- Basque Center on Cognition Brain and Language (San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain) www.bcbl.eu

The Basque Center on Cognition Brain and Language (San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain) offers SENIOR research staff positions in several areas: language acquisition, production, multilingualism, neurodegeneration of language, language and learning disorders, neurocognition of language and advanced methods for cognitive neuroscience.

The Center promotes a rich research environment without teaching obligations. It provides access to the most advanced behavioral and neuroimaging techniques, including 3 Tesla MRI, a whole-head MEG system, four ERP labs, a NIRS lab, a baby lab including eyetracker, two eyetracking labs, and several well-equipped behavioral labs. There are excellent technical support staff and research personnel (PhD and postdoctoral students). The senior positions are permanent appointments.

We are looking for cognitive neuroscientists or experimental psychologists with a background in psycholinguistics and/or neighboring cognitive neuroscience areas, and physicists and/or engineers with fMRI expertise. Individuals interested in undertaking research in the fields described in www.bcbl.eu (research) should apply through the Ikerbasque web page (www.ikerbasque.net).

Deadline March 31, 2012

Candidates should have a strong publication track record.

For more information, please contact the Director of BCBL, Manuel Carreiras:

(info@bcbl.eu)

RESEARCH FACULTY POSITIONS at the BCBL- San Sebastián

2012-02-17T16:46:00.000-08:00

RESEARCH FACULTY POSITIONS at the BCBL- Basque Center on Cognition Brain and Language (San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain) www.bcbl.eu

The Basque Center on Cognition Brain and Language (San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain) offers research staff positions in several areas: language acquisition, production, multilingualism, neurodegeneration of language, language and learning disorders, neurocognition of language and advanced methods for cognitive neuroscience.

We are looking for cognitive neuroscientists or experimental psychologists with a background in psycholinguistics and/or neighboring cognitive neuroscience areas, and physicists and/or engineers with fMRI expertise. Individuals interested in undertaking research in the fields described in www.bcbl.eu (research) ) should apply through the Ikerbasque web page (www.ikerbasque.net).

Deadline March 31, 2012

Candidates should have a strong publication track record and postdoctoral experience

For information about the positions, please contact Manuel Carreiras
(info@bcbl.eu)

RA Position: Georgetown Cognitive Neuropsychology Lab

2012-02-17T16:43:00.000-08:00

The Cognitive Neuropsychology Lab within Georgetown University’s Center for Aphasia Research and Rehabilitation, directed by Rhonda Friedman, Ph.D., is seeking a full-time research assistant to support two ongoing studies examining the decline of word-finding abilities in adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, and Primary Progressive Aphasia. Research in our lab examines language and learning/memory function and dysfunction in people with stroke, head injury, and dementia. Projects include behavioral, fMRI, eye tracking, and ERP studies, and development of cognitive treatments for acquired language disorders.

Duties include: preparing stimulus materials according to research protocols; data organization, input, and maintenance; scoring language and neuropsychological assessment tests; coordination and scheduling of participants; recruitment and testing of normal control subjects; and data processing and analysis, including coding of subjects’ errors, as directed by senior lab members. The research assistant will also provide support to the Principle Investigator and other lab members, including ordering supplies and equipment, processing subject payments, maintenance and updating of the lab’s library, data back-up, and other minor duties as assigned. This position will involve working closely with the lab manager and other lab members for coordination of tasks, as well as a significant amount of independent work. The successful research assistant will be self-initiated, motivated, and have the ability to work independently with minimal supervision. Direct contact and testing of participants and supervision of undergraduate students may be required at a later date. Requires a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Linguistics, Cognitive Science, Neuroscience, or a related field; research experience; excellent oral and written communication skills; and a demonstrable interest in brain and language.

The search will begin immediately and will continue until an appropriate person is found. Preferred start date is March 19 or sooner.

Please email a cover letter and CV, and arrange for three letters of reference to be sent via email to:

AphasiaResearch@georgetown.edu

Website: http://gumc.georgetown.edu/aphasia

RA/Lab Manager Job Opportunity at NYU

2012-02-05T09:55:00.000-08:00

Applications are invited for a an RA/Lab Manager (NYU title: “junior research scientist”) position in an NIH-funded research project in the Acoustic Phonetics and Perception Lab (http://homepages.nyu.edu/~svl2/) at NYU in the Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders. Research in the lab focuses on the effects of talker variability on speech perception and language processing in children and adults. This funded project will also explore the relationships between the experimental tasks and standardized measures of language ability, nonverbal cognition, and memory.

The research scientist will work closely with the PI on a regular basis, but will also be required to work independently. The position involves a wide variety of responsibilities including subject running and recruitment, stimulus development, experiment implementation and execution, administration of standardized tests for language and non-verbal cognition, data analysis, preparing and renewing IRB protocols, and minor administrative work. The position will provide some interaction with both typically developing school-age children and those with language impairments. It will also provide training in some basic statistical analysis, speech recording, and acoustic analysis.

Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree in psychology, linguistics, speech & hearing sciences, or a related field, with a solid background (coursework or otherwise) in research methods, design, and testing. The ideal candidate will be hardworking, reliable, and energetic, with excellent organizational and interpersonal skills. S/he must be able to work independently in a fast-paced environment, juggle and prioritize multiple tasks, seek assistance when appropriate, and be able to work with a diverse group of people. Prior experience with EPrime and Excel is preferred, but not required. The candidate must be proficient in Windows based applications. Good written and oral communication skills are important assets.

A minimum one year commitment is required for this part-time (~20hr/week) position. The position is available starting January 2012. Interested candidates should email (i) a letter outlining their background and interests, (ii) their CV/resume, and (iii) the names and contact information for three references to Susannah Levi at svlevi@nyu.edu. Questions about the position are welcome.

Salary will be commensurate with experience and qualifications.

University of Bristol job

2012-02-05T09:53:00.000-08:00

Lecturer/Senior Lecturer/Reader (two posts) (vacancy ref. 16924)

The School of Experimental Psychology is seeking candidates for two Lectureship or Senior Lectureship/Readership positions within its Cognitive Processes Research Theme. You will have an outstanding publication record and evidence of the potential to secure grant income.

The School of Experimental Psychology is one of the UK?s top psychology departments, with support from a world class Science Faculty and University, and a strong research focus. The School has facilities to support a range of experimental methods including EEG, eye-tracking, and neuroimaging (via the University's Clinical Research and Imaging Centre, CRICBristol).

The School has three research themes: cognitive processes; brain, behaviour and health; decision-making and rationality. These two appointments will be within the first of these themes, although there is considerable inter-theme collaboration within the school. Preference will be given to candidates who can strengthen our research links with CRICBristol and teach neuropsychological theory and methods (one post) and who can extend our role within the Bristol Vision Institute (one post).

It is expected that the final selection process will be held 19 to 21 March 2012.

Grade : Level c - Level d in Pathway 1
Salary : £39,107 - £52,556

Contact: ( School of Experimental Psychology )
Professor P Rogers
E-mail: peter.rogers@bristol.ac.uk
Tel: 0117 928 8584

Alternative Contact: ( School of Experimental Psychology )
Professor C Jarrold
E-mail: c.jarrold@bristol.ac.uk
Tel: 0117 928 8569

Contract : Permanent
Further details and an application form can be found at https://www.bris.ac.uk/boris/jobs/feeds/ads?ID=107271. Alternatively you can telephone (0117) 954 6947, minicom (0117) 928 8894
or E-Mail Recruitment@bris.ac.uk (stating postal address ONLY), quoting reference number 16924.

The closing date for applications is 9.00am, 20 February 2012
An Equal Opportunities Employer.

New Journal: "Language and Cognition"

2012-02-02T08:08:00.000-08:00

From David Kemmerer:

New Journal: "Language and Cognition"

I would like to bring to everyone's attention the existence of a relatively new journal called "Language and Cognition":

http://www.languageandcognition.net/Language_and_Cognition/Language_and_Cognition.html

As stated on the website, this is the journal of the UK Cognitive Linguistics Association. It is a venue for the publication of high-quality peer-reviewed research of a theoretical and/or empirical/experimental nature, focusing on the interface between language and cognition. It is open to research from the full range of subject disciplines, theoretical backgrounds, and analytical frameworks that populate the language and cognitive sciences, on a wide range of topics. Research published in the journal adopts an interdisciplinary, comparative, multi-methodological approach to the study of language and cognition and their intersection.

To fulfill this mission, the journal is managed by a team of five general editors with expertise in different aspects of the language-cognition interface:

• Daniel Casasanto, The New School for Social Research

• Seana Coulson, University of California, San Diego

• Vyvyan Evans, Bangor University

• David Kemmerer, Purdue University

• Laura Michaelis, University of Colorado, Boulder

• Chris Sinha, University of Portsmouth

Now, the main reason I'm posting this announcement on "Talking Brains" is because the editors would like to solicit more papers that address neurobiological aspects of the language-cognition interface. We have already published a few papers by well-known cognitive neuroscientists, including Anjan Chatterjee, Uta Noppeney, and Gabriella Vigliocco. But we would very much like to expand our coverage of brain-related topics, especially in ways that connect with current thinking in cognitively, functionally, and typologically oriented linguistic theories. As an added incentive, the journal now publishes full color figures both in print and online. So if you have any projects in the works that seem to fit the bill, please consider submitting a paper to "Language and Cognition"!

What can we learn from the processing of syntactic violations?

2012-01-20T09:22:00.000-08:00

There is an interesting discussion brewing in the comments of one of my previous posts that I think is worthy of the front page. It was sparked by a question from Jeroen van Baar:

Greg, I think one of your last comments here captures the issue: "We are dealing with the fact that Broca's area doesn't get involved with sentence processing unless the stims contain violations or things get really difficult (working memory? cognitive control?)." (March 14, 2011).
If we want to learn about the processing of syntax, we need to make sure the brain is engaged in syntax analysis, and I guess there are two obvious cases in which this happens; 1. when syntax is violated and 2. when syntax analysis is needed in order to extract meaning from a sentence. So if a sentence is not attended and meaning does not need to be extracted, the auditory stimulus will flow into your brain but higher-order processing will not take place, which leaves an absence of syntax-related activation. Likewise, if a sentence has no meaning at all, as in your jabberwocky stimuli, syntax plays no role in understanding the sentence anymore, so your brain will just not bother. What I'm trying to say, I guess, is that syntax serves meaning (in good Chomskian tradition), and meaningful stimuli may just engage that syntax-processing unit we are thought to have.
As for music: same story? What do you think?

My response was this:

Jeroen,You seem to be suggesting that syntactic analysis may not be utilized for simple, grammatical sentences. I think there is a paradox hidden in there though. You suggest that one condition in which the brain is engaged in syntactic analysis is when syntax is violated. But presumably there has to be some mechanism in the brain telling you when a violation has occurred. This implies that syntactic analysis is being carried out even when no violation occurs. So even though, "The dog chased the cat" is simple and contains no violation, the fact that we readily detect a difference between that sentence and, "The dog chase the cat" means that syntactic analysis is being carried out, no?

Jeroen countered:

Greg, You're right. A syntactic monitoring system must be active at all times. But don't you think that its activity will spike when a violation is detected? In neurolinguistics this seems to be a common paradigm: in both EEG and fMRI studies, conditions of no violation are often subtracted from conditions of violation to leave the activity that is specifically concerned with the analysis (or repair) of a syntax error. I think that with such an approach, we may be more successful in identifying a musical syntactic processing system, if there is one.

Your findings, of course, suggest that if any overlap is found in activity elicited by musical and linguistic syntax violations, this overlap is not a sign of a shared syntactic integration system, but rather of a general violation-activated system of some kind. This is contradicted by a couple of studies that found interactions specifically between syntax violating conditions in music and language, and not between other violation conditions, such as timbre-related surprises and semantic oddballs (c.f. Koelsch et al. (2005), Interaction between Syntax Processing in Language and Music: An ERP Study, J. Cogn. Neurosc. 17(10): 1565-77; and Slevc et al. (2009), Making psycholinguistics musical: Self-paced reading time evidence for shared processing of linguistic and musical syntax, Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 16(2): 374-81).

All in all, do you agree that a study comparing violation vs. control within-mode (language or music) and within-subjects with fMRI could provide useful insights?

Here's the issue I'd like to bring up for discussion here: "don't you think that [syntactic] activity will spike when a violation is detected?"

This is the underlying assumption of all the studies that use the violation paradigm, but it is an empirical question and I'm not convinced we have a clear answer on this. Does syntactic theory predict a spike in syntactic computation when a violation occurs? Not really. In fact, you might argue that the syntactic mechanism shuts down and something else takes over!

The problem I have with violation studies is that the occurrence of a violation is confounded with other processes, some of which may not be syntactic at all. E.g., conflict resolution, various forms of working memory, the probability of your subject talking to him/herself may increase ("Was that a violation? Should I push the button?), etc. In short, I don't know what is being measured in the response to a violation so I don't how to interpret a neurophysiological response triggered by such a violation. If you want to map the neural system involved in violation processing, then fine, study violations. But this that really what we're after here? Or are we trying to understanding the circuits involved in syntactic computations as they are normally carried out in grammatical sentences? I'm interested in the latter and so I'm not interested at all in the response to violations. I think it is misleading.

This is a theoretical concern but it is backed up by empirical results. I think we all agree that listening to structured sentences involves syntactic computation. If we look at that activation pattern associated with listening to sentences contrasted with rest or with listening to scrambled sentences or spectrally rotated versions of those sentences, we do not typically find activation differences in Broca's area. However, the most robust site of activation in violation studies is Broca's area. Given these two facts, how can we say that the violation response reflects syntactic computation?

INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON IMITATION AND CONVERGENCE IN SPEECH (ISICS 2012) Aix-en-Provence, France, 3-5 September 2012

2012-01-05T11:40:00.000-08:00

INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON IMITATION AND CONVERGENCE IN SPEECH (ISICS 2012) Aix-en-Provence, France, 3-5 September 2012

First call for communications

mail: isics2012@lpl-aix.fr

website: spim.risc.cnrs.fr/ISICS.htm

OVERVIEW

In the course of a conversational interaction, the behavior of each talker often tends to become more similar to that of the conversational partner. Such convergence effects have been shown to manifest themselves under many different forms, which include posture, body movements, facial expressions, and speech. Imitative speech behavior is a phenomenon that may be actively exploited by talkers to facilitate their conversational exchange. It occurs, by definition, within a social interaction, but has consequences for language that extend much beyond the temporal limits of that interaction. It has been suggested that imitation plays an important role in speech development and may also form one of the key mechanisms that underlie the emergence and evolution of human languages. The behavioral tendency shown by humans to imitate others may be connected at the brain level with the presence of mirror neurons, whose discovery has raised important issues about the role that these neurons may fulfill in many different domains, from sensorimotor integration to the understanding of others' behaviour.

The focus of this international symposium will be the fast-growing body of research on convergence phenomena between speakers in speech. The symposium will also aim to assess current research on the brain and cognitive underpinnings of imitative behavior. Our main goal will be to bring together researchers with a large variety of scientific backgrounds (linguistics, speech sciences, psycholinguistics, experimental sociolinguistics, neurosciences, cognitive sciences) with a view to improving our understanding of the role of imitation in the production, comprehension and acquisition of spoken language.

The symposium is organized by the laboratoire Parole et Langage, CNRS and Aix-Marseille Université, Aix-en-Provence, France (www.lpl.univ-aix.fr). It will be chaired by Noël Nguyen (LPL) and Marc Sato (GIPSA-Lab, Grenoble), and will be held in the Maison Méditerranéenne des Sciences Humaines.

INVITED SPEAKERS

Luciano Fadiga, University of Ferrara, Italy

Maëva Garnier, GIPSA-Lab, Grenoble, France

Simon Garrod, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom

Beatrice Szczepek Reed, University of York, United Kingdom

CALL FOR PAPERS

Papers are invited on the topics covered by the symposium. Abstracts not exceeding 2 pages must be submitted electronically and in pdf format by 15 April 2012. They will be selected by the Scientific Committee on the basis of their scientific merit and relevance to the symposium. Notifications of acceptance/rejection will be sent to the authors by 31 May 2012.

IMPORTANT DATES

- 15 April 2012: Abstract submission deadline

- 31 May 2012: Notification of acceptance / rejection

- 30 June 2012: Early registration deadline

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE

. Patti Adank, University of Manchester, UK

. Martine Adda-Decker, laboratoire de Phonétique et Phonologie, Paris, France

. Gérard Bailly, GIPSA-Lab, Grenoble, France

. Roxane Bertrand, laboratoire Parole et Langage, Aix-en-Provence, France

. Ann Bradlow, Northwestern University, Evanston, USA

. Jennifer Cole, Department of Linguistics, Urbana-Champaign, USA

. Mariapaola D’Imperio, laboratoire Parole et Langage, Aix-en-Provence, France

. Laura Dilley, Department of Psychology and Linguistics, Michigan State University, USA

. Sophie Dufour, laboratoire Parole et Langage, Aix-en-Provence, France

. Carol Fowler, Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, USA

. Jonathan Harrington, University of Munich, Germany

. Jennifer Hay, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

. Julia Hirschberg, Columbia University, New York, USA

. Holger Mitterer, Max Plank Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

. Lorenza Mondada, laboratoire ICAR, Lyon, France

. Kuniko Nielsen, Oakland University, Rochester, USA

. Noël Nguyen, laboratoire Parole et Langage, Aix-en-Provence, France

. Martin Pickering, University of Edinburgh, UK

. Marc Sato, GIPSA-Lab, Grenoble, France

. Jean-Luc Schwartz, GIPSA-Lab, Grenoble, France

. Véronique Traverso, laboratoire ICAR, Lyon, France

. Sophie Wauquier, Université Paris 8, Saint-Denis, France

Computational neuroanatomy of speech production

2012-01-05T10:25:00.000-08:00

For your Happy New Year reading enjoyment, let me point you to my just (online) published synthesis of computational, psycholinguistic, and neuroanatomic research on speech production: Hickok, G. (2012). Computational Neuroanatomy of Speech Production, Nature Reviews Neuroscience. The aim was to shatter barriers between the motor control folks, the psycholinguists, and the neuroscience oriented researchers studying speech production. This integration has some interesting consequences (in my view). Here are a few:

1. Speech motor control is hierarchically organized (no big surprise) with an auditory-(pre)motor circuit representing a relatively higher level and a somatosensory-motor circuit a relatively lower level.

2. The auditory grounded circuit primarily deals in units the size of syllables whereas what we normally think of as segmental units (~phonemes) are processed primarily in the lower-level somatosensory based circuit. Yes, I'm arguing that "phonological representation" is distributed over auditory and somatosensory cortex.

3. Phonological encoding, in the sense of typical two-stage models of speech production is achieved in the context of a state feedback control circuit (from the motor control tradition).

4. Efference copy signals as they are currently conceptualized in the motor control literature do not exist (let's see what kind of push back I get on this one!). That is, the motor controller does not issue a copy of the command that it has executed. Rather, motor to sensory feedback is part of the motor planning process from the start. In other words, in my view, the "efference copy" is an iterative feedback loop that enables sensory systems to be a part of the programming of the movement rather than just evaluating the outcome of movement commands. This conceptualization integrates the notion of motor planning, efference copies, forward prediction, and error correction into one mechanism. In addition, this computational architecture solves the problem of how both internal and external feedback monitoring can be achieved by the same network even though the timing of the two feedback sources differ. I present a simply simulation to demonstrate the feasibility of these assumptions.

5. Forward predictions are instantiated computationally as inhibitory inputs to sensory systems.

6. Conduction aphasia and apraxia of speech involve disruption to two different components of the same hierarchical level of state feedback control, the relatively higher level auditory-pre-motor circuit.

7. Sensory representations are central to the motor planning process and explain the tight interaction between sensory and motor speech systems. It is a sensory theory of speech production in a sense as opposed to a motor-oriented theory of speech perception.

I would love to get your thoughts on this paper. There's lots in here to discuss/argue about and it will be fun to debate some of the data and/or theoretical claims.

Doctoral position in General Linguistics at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany

2011-12-15T13:16:00.000-08:00

The Emmy Noether Research Group ''Neurolinguistic Foundations of Information Structure'' (funded by the German Research Foundation, DFG) headed by Petra Schumacher is seeking to fill the position of a doctoral researcher. Starting date: February 1, 2012 or soon thereafter. 
The doctoral position is part of a neurolinguistic project that investigates language comprehension at the interface of syntax, semantics and information structure (http://www.linguistik.uni-mainz.de/schumacher/research-group/). The doctoral researcher will work within our group on a project that investigates referential processing in German. The project will either extend previous research with unimpaired comprehenders or investigate referential processing in aphasia patients. The primary experimental method employed will be event-related brain potentials.

The ideal candidate should have a degree in linguistics or a related discipline. S/he should have a keen interest in experimental work, as well as in syntactic and pragmatic theory. Experience with event-related brain potentials and/or language impairment research will be a plus. Knowledge of German would be beneficial. The successful candidate will work towards a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Mainz on a topic related to the research group.

The position has an initial term for two years, with the possibility of extension contingent on future funding. The salary and social benefits are determined by the German pay scale for state employees (EG 13 TV-L 50%).

Interested candidates are invited to send their application materials electronically to petra.schumacher@uni-mainz.de. Pdf files are preferred. Applications can be written in German or English and should include CV, contact information of at least two referees, and a brief statement of research interests.

Applications received by January 06, 2012 will receive full consideration, but the search continues until the position is filled.

For more information contact Petra B. Schumacher by email at petra.schumacher@uni-mainz.de