Events

Upcoming Events

Joint NLS and English Linguistics Seminar: Sara Farshchi (Lund University) on "ERP responses to confirmed and disconfirmed predictions in negated contexts"

On 6 December, 13:15-15:00, Sara Farshchi (Lund University) will talk about ERP responses to confirmed and disconfirmed predictions in negated contexts.

On-site: SOL:A158

Zoom: https://lu-se.zoom.us/s/62491331134

Past Events

NLS Symposium on Tone and prediction in language, organised by Sabine Gosselke Berthelsen and Mikael Roll

The symposium takes place on 17 November, 9:00-12:30, at Lund University:

On-site: SOL:H402

Zoom: https://lu-se.zoom.us/j/63486401613

In a series of six talks, the general process of prediction in different aspects of language will be discussed. Below is an overview of the program:

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09.00-09.30 Mikael Roll, Lund University

Lexical tone accents and prediction in the brain

09.30-10.00 Pelle Söderström, Western Sydney University

Within-word prediction: from tones to segments

10.00-10.30 Sabine Gosselke Berthelsen, University of Copenhagen

Morphophonological prediction in second language learners

Coffee break

11.00-11.30 Pei-Ju Chien, Lund University

Neural correlates of lexical tone and intonation perception in Mandarin Chinese

11.30-12.00 Wing Yee Chow, University College London

Incremental prediction in real-time language comprehension:
From meaning to pitch contour

12.00-12.30 Yiling Huo, University College London

Organisers: Sabine Gosselke Berthelsen and Mikael Roll

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For more information about the talks and abstracts, see the link below:

https://www.sol.lu.se/en/the-department/calendar/event/symposium-tone-and-prediction-language/

Panos Athanasopoulos (Lund University) on Language modulations of pre-attentive categorical perception

On 17th of October at 13:15, Panos Athanasopoulos from Lund University will give a talk about "Language modulations of pre-attentive categorical perception".

Location: SOL:H402

Zoom Link: https://lu-se.zoom.us/j/63963142026

Abstract

Modern approaches to the Sapir-Whorf linguistic relativity hypothesis have reframed it from one of whether language shapes our thinking or not, to one that tries to understand the extent and nature of any observable influence of language on perception. One important dimension of this strand of research asks whether language modulates our perception only at a conscious level, or whether such modulations can also be observed outside of conscious awareness, at early pre-attentive stages of visual integration. The current talk will review Event Related Brain Potential (ERP) evidence from three research domains (colour, objects, grammatical gender) that sheds light on these questions. The data shows that it is possible to observe language effects very early in the visual processing stream, thus supporting one of the basic tenets of the linguistic relativity hypothesis, namely that “the 'real world' is to a large extent unconsciously built up on the language habits of the group” (Sapir 1958 [1929], p. 69).

Conference: NLS 2023, 1-2 June

The first NLS conference will take place on 1-2 June, 2023, in Lund.

For more information see:

https://konferens.ht.lu.se/neurolinguistics-in-sweden-2023

Lia Călinescu (NTNU) on Verb-Noun and Adjective-Noun composition in the brain

Title: In search for composition in the brain: ERP and oscillatory effects of Verb-Noun and Adjective-Noun composition

Date: 9 May

Time: 13.15-15

Room: SOL:A158

Zoom https://lu-se.zoom.us/j/62491331134

Abstract:

Research aiming to uncover the neural corelates of composition in the brain has been very productive over the last few decades. However, such a corelate has arguably not been observed to date. In this research we explore the possibility that the reason for this delay is the fact that the experimental paradigms used in previous research have not been optimal for this aim. At the same time we raise the question of whether composition is not always used as a strategy of deriving meaning of complex expressions. I used a novel paradigm in a EEG experiment testing whether arguments (e.g. the direct object of a transitive verb) and adjuncts (e.g. an adjective modifying a noun) are composed by similar or different mechanisms at the neural level. ERP and oscillatory responses seem to suggest alternative explanations for meaning comprehension that do not rely compositionality.

Francesca Carota on "A neurobiologically informed theory of language production"

On 2 May 13.15-15.00 Francesca Carota from the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics & Donders Center for Cognitive Neuroimaging will give the talk "Towards a neurobiologically informed theory of language production".

Location: SOL A158

Link to the zoom room: lu-se.zoom.us/j/62491331134

Yury Shtyrov, Aarhus University, on morphosyntactic interactions through the lens of brain dynamics

Are complex words real mental objects represented in the lexicon as such, or are they learnt, stored and processed as mere combinations of individual morphemes bound together by morphosyntactic rules? Do these mechanisms differ depending on the type of morphology under investigation? Such questions debated in (psycho)linguistic literature can be straightforwardly addressed using neurophysiology. Using MEG and EEG, we have established a distinct double dissociation pattern in neurophysiological responses to spoken language, which can reflect lexical («representational») vs. (morpho)syntactic («combinatorial») processes in the brain. These are manifest as: (1) a larger passive (i.e. obtained without any stimulus-related task) brain response to meaningful words relative to matched meaningless pseudowords, reflecting stronger activation of pre-existing lexical memory traces for monomorphemic words (= lexical ERP/ERF pattern), (2) a smaller brain response amplitude for congruous word combinations (reflecting priming via syntactic links), relative to incongruous combinations where no priming is possible (=combinatorial pattern). This double dissociation – larger response for auditorily presented simple holistic representations vs. smaller response for well-formed combinatorial sequences – allows, in turn, for clear experimental predictions. Such experiments could test the nature of morphosyntactic processing by presenting the subjects with real complex words and incongruous morpheme combinations in passive auditory event-related designs, and comparing the relative dynamics of their brain responses.

We have used this neurophysiological approach to address a range of morphosyntactic questions: neural processing of compound words, past tense inflections, particle verbs as well as differences between inflectional and derivational morphology and processes of complex word acquisition in L1 and L2. This body of results generally supports a flexible dual-route account of complex-word processing, with a range of strategies involved dynamically, depending on exact psycholinguistic stimulus properties. Furthermore, as these experiments indicate, comprehension of spoken complex words is a largely automatized process underpinned by a very rapid (starting from ~50 ms) neural activation in bilateral perisylvian areas.

Date: 28 February

Time: 13.15-15

Room: SOL A158 or on zoom https://lu-se.zoom.us/j/62491331134

Mikkel Wallentin on "Sex/gender in language. Large differences with small effects and small differences with large effects"

Tuesday, November 8, 13:15-15, Mikkel Wallentin (Aarhus University) will present his work on "Sex/gender in language" in Lund.

Location: SOL: H402
Zoom link: https://lu-se.zoom.us/s/62491331134

Pei-Ju Chien on "The neural bases of speech intonation and lexical tone in Mandarin Chinese"

Tuesday, October 25, 10:15-12, Pei-Ju Chien on "The neural bases of speech intonation and lexical tone in Mandarin Chinese"

Location: SOL: A158
Link to the Zoom room: https://lu-se.zoom.us/s/62491331134

Pelle Söderström on "Spoken-word recognition in the brain—A case for ubiquitous predictive processing"

Tuesday, October 18, 13:15-15, Pelle Söderström (Lund University & MARCS Institute, Sydney) will present his work on "Spoken-word recognition in the brain"

Location: SOL: H402
Link to the Zoom room: https://lu-se.zoom.us/s/62491331134

Rosario Tomasello on The neuropragmatics of speech acts, Tuesday 14 June

Tuesday, 14 June, 13.00-14.30, Rosario Tomasello will visit Stockholm University via zoom.

Link to the zoom room: https://stockholmuniversity.zoom.us/j/63457311826

Title: The neuropragmatics of speech acts

Abstract: In everyday social interactions, linguistic signs are used as tools allowing effective expression of our intentions to others. These intentions, described by linguistic-pragmatic theories as speech acts, are embedded in a set of complex settings and actions, including associated commitments, that define the specific nature of their actions in context. Here I summarise a series of studies on the brain correlates underlying the fine-grained distinction between different speech act types in written, spoken and gestural modalities, including speech prosody and the role of common ground. I will provide novel insights into the long-standing debate about when brain indexes of linguistic-pragmatic information of communicative functions first occur. Further, by presenting a neuromechanistic model, the Action Prediction Model of Communicative Function, I will argue that understanding a speech act requires the expectation of typical partner actions that follow it and that this predictive knowledge is reflected in the human brain.

Elliot Murphy on his ECoG/iEEG work on syntactic composition, 1 June 14.15

Title: A cortical mosaic for linguistic structure: Insights from intracranial recordings

Elliot Murphy (University of Texas Health Science Center)

Wed., June 1, 14:15-15:30 CET

zoom link: https://NTNU.zoom.us/j/94287253224

This is a talk organized by NTNU.

Katharina Rufener on tACS to modulates auditory gamma oscillations

Title: Modulating auditory gamma oscillations by means of transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) – first evidence on the efficacy and feasability in individuals diagnosed with developmental dyslexia

Katharina Rufener (Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany)

Wed., May 25, 13:15-14:15 CET

zoom link: https://lu-se.zoom.us/j/63263453894

Prediction in Brain Potentials 29 April 2022

Program

13:15-13:30 Introduction

13:30-14:15 Stronger expectations, larger negativities: slow negativities associated with semantic prediction in sentence comprehension. Patricia León-Cabrera

14:30-15:15 Information sampling during self-regulated language learning: Evidence using slow event-related brain components (ERPs). Antoni Rodriguez-Fornells

15:15-15:45 Coffee and snacks

15:45-16:30 The pre-activation negativity. Sabine Gosselke-Berthelsen, Anna Hjortdal & Mikael Roll

16:30-17:00 General discussion

Link to the event in the SOL calender

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