Category archives: Neurolinguistics

Lexical alignment: the art of speaking in sync and how our brain copes with it

Lexical alignment: the art of speaking in sync and how our brain copes with it

Neurolinguistics

By Invited Researcher

Have you ever found yourself spending five minutes talking to someone and suddenly using their words instead of your own? Say, for example, that you usually say “couch” but now suddenly you call it “sofa.” You say “TV,” but suddenly it’s “the telly.” You’ve never in your life referred to dinner as “tea” but after […]

How perceptions are influenced by expectations

How perceptions are influenced by expectations

NeurobiologyNeurolinguisticsNeurosciencePsychology

By Mapping Ignorance

Past neuroscience and psychology studies have shown that people’s expectations of the world can influence their perceptions, either by directing their attention to expected stimuli or by reducing their sensitivity (i.e., perceptual acuity) to variations within the categories of stimuli we expect to be exposed to. While the effects of expectations on perceptions are now […]

Subcortical nuclei and language processing

Subcortical nuclei and language processing

LanguageNeurolinguisticsNeuroscience

By Invited Researcher

Authors: Elissa-Marie Cocquyt, speech therapist and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Groningen & Adrià Rofes, assistant professor of Neurolinguistics at the University of Groningen. The human brain is one of the most wonderful organs. In general, our brain consists of a left and right part, of which the outermost layer is called the ‘cortex’ […]

How our first language shapes brain’s connectivity structure

How our first language shapes brain’s connectivity structure

LanguageNeurolinguisticsNeuroscience

By Invited Researcher

connectivity Author: Juan F. Trillo, PhD in Linguistics and Philosophy (U. Autónoma de Madrid), PhD in Literary Studies (U. Complutense de Madrid). The plasticity of the brain and its ability to adapt to the most diverse requirements and demands, such as the use of a specific language, has been well known for years . This […]

Music, maths, language… and the brain

Music, maths, language… and the brain

NeurobiologyNeurolinguisticsNeuroscience

By Invited Researcher

Author: Fernando Giraldez is currently Professor of Physiology at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra of Barcelona, and has a broad experience in teaching and research in Neuroscience and Developmental Biology. The view that music, maths and language are related is quite widespread. We know that they share common abstract properties and their associated skills and abilities […]

What does remembering the “Little Red Riding Hood” story tell about your cognition?

What does remembering the “Little Red Riding Hood” story tell about your cognition?

NeurolinguisticsNeuroscience

By Invited Researcher

Do you remember the “Little Red Riding Hood” story – the beloved fairy tale that your parents used to read to you before bed? Besides putting you and many other children across the globe to sleep, this story is a great “spontaneous speech” resource to assess language impairments in people with neurological disorders. An interesting […]

How many animals can you name within one minute (and what does this say about your cognition)?

How many animals can you name within one minute (and what does this say about your cognition)?

LanguageNeurolinguisticsNeuroscience

By Invited Researcher

Verbal fluency tests are one of the most widely used tests in neuropsychology . The oral form of the test that is used today was first introduced by Benton and colleagues in the 1960’s and is mainly administered for evaluation of subjects suspected of having neurological damage . Administration of fluency tests is fast, simple […]