Cognitive Neurolinguistics
. 

Course Instructor

Ria De Bleser, 

Prof. of Cognitive Neurolinguistics

University of Potsdam

Germany


 
 

Synopsis

This course gives a survey of some major issues in cognitive neurolinguistics: How language breaks down, and what the pattern of breakdown reveals about normal language and its processing, the universal and language-specific aspects of deficitsand to what extent elements of language are correlated with particular areas and functions of the brain. 

After a historical overview of neurology with special reference to language, attention will be focussed on language disorders that arise as a consequence of brain damage. It will be shown that studying pathology can help us understand how the unimpaired brain functions in language production and comprehension. A typology of language disorders will be developed and a number of explanatory models for specific disorders will be discussed and evaluated. 

There will be four sessions of 2.5 hours each. In each class there will be a 1.5 hour lecture. During the next hour, two students will present and critique one article each.All students are required to read the assigned background literature as well as the articles presented by students in class. For the students not presenting during class, there will be a final exam consisting of short essay questions; the questions will cover the reading and lecture material. In addition, you will be asked to write a paper; its topic must be approved by the course instructor. Grades will depend upon class participation (primarily on the in-class article presentation) (50%) or upon performance on the final (50%) and the paper (50%). 
 


 

Schedule and readings

Part I: Introduction 

Session 1: Introduction to historical and fundamental issues in the study of brain and language
Lecture
No student presentations 
 
General Background:Historical
De Bleser (1987) From agrammatism to paragrammatism 

Boller and Grafman, vol. 3, chapter 1 (chapter by De Bleser on the history of aphasiology)

General Background: Techniques

Kertesz, chapter 1 (Localisation and function)

Posner and Raichle, chapter 1 (Overview of cognitive neuroscience)

Stemmer and Whitaker, chapters 5, 6

General Background: Anatomy

Kolb and Whishaw, chapter 3


 


 

Part II: The functional neuroanatomy of language 

Session 2: Morphology and syntax
Lecture
Student presentation and discussion
Readings:
 
General Background
Rapp, chapter 9 
Rapp, chapter 14, 15 
For Presentation:
Stromswold et al. (1996) 
Neville et al. (1991) 
Optional:
Pinker (1994), chapters 4 and 5 (General background on syntax and morphology)

Session 3: Reading and writing
Lecture
Student presentations and discussion
Readings: 
 
General Background
Caplan (1992), chapter 5 
Boller and Grafman (2000), vol. 3, chapter 12 and 13 
For Presentation:
Pugh et al. (1996) 
Rapp (2000), chapter 10 

Session 4: Semantics and the lexicon
Lecture
Readings: 
 
General Background
Caplan (1992), chapter 3 
Gazzaniga (1995), chapter 58 
Boller and Grafman (2000), vol. 3, chapter 7 
Damasio et al. (1996) and (Caramazza, 1996)
Martin et al., (1996) ("Neural correlates of category-specific knowledge")

Exam



 

References

Boller, F & Grafman, J. (Eds) (2000) Handbook of Neuropsychology, Volume 3, Language and Aphasia. Amsterdam: Elsevier

Caplan, D. (1992). Language: Structure, processing, and disorders. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 

Caramazza, A. (1996). The brain's dictionary. Nature, 380, 485-486. 

Damasio, H., Grabowski, T. J., Tranel, D., Hichwa, R. D., & Damasio, A. R. (1996). A neural basis for lexical retrieval. Nature, 380, 499-505. 

De Bleser, R. (1987) From agrammatism to paragrammatism: German aphasiological traditions and grammatical disturbances. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 4, 187-256.

Gazzaniga, M. S. (Ed.). (1995). The cognitive neurosciences. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 

Kertesz, A. (1994). Localization and neuroimaging in neuropsychology. New York: Academic Press, Inc. 

Kolb, B., & Whishaw, I. Q. (1996). Fundamentals of human neuropsychology. (4 ed.). New York: W. H. Freeman and Company. 

Martin, A., Wiggs, C. L., Ungeleider, L. G., & Haxby, J. V. (1996). Neural correlates of category-specific knowledge. Nature, 379, 649-652. 

Neville, H., Nicol, J. L., Barss, A., Forster, K. I., & Garrett, M. F. (1991). Syntactically based sentence processing classes: Evidence from event-related brain potentials. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 3(2), 151-165. 

Pinker, S. (1994). The language instinct. New York: William Morrow. 

Posner, M. I., & Raichle, M. (1997). Images of mind. New York: W. H. Freeman and Company. 

Pugh, K. R., Shaywitz, B. A., Shaywitz, S. E., Constable, T., Skudlarski, P., Fulbright, R. K., Bronen, R. A., Shankweiler, D. P., Katz, L., Fletcher, J. M., & Gore, J. C. (1996). Cerebral organization of component processes in reading. Brain, 119, 1221-1238. 

Rapp, B. (Ed.) (2000). The Handbook of Cognitive Neuropsychology. What Deficits Reveal about the human Mind. Philadelphia: Psychology Press.

Stemmer, B., & Whitaker, H. A. (Eds.). (1998). Handbook of neurolinguistics. New York: Academic Press. 

Stromswold, K., Caplan, D., Alpert, N., & Rauch, S. (1996). Localization of syntactic comprehension by positron emission tomography. Brain and Language, 52, 452-473.