THE NEUROCOGNITIVE BASIS OF LANGUAGE
 
Sydney M. Lamb
 
Department of Linguistics
Rice University
Houston, Texas, USA
 
lamb@rice.edu
 
 
"If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it."
Anonymous
Purpose

This tutorial offers an orientation to the field of neurocognitive linguistics, which explores how the brain learns, represents, and utilizes linguistic information. We aim to reach a better understanding of both language and the brain by examining each in relation to the other: We can explore how the brain works through investigation of language, and we can better understand the nature of language by examining its relationship to the brain.

The analysis of linguistic data has revealed systematic structure, some of which reflects properties of its neurocognitive basis. Also, language is richly connected to other cognitive systems, as is clear from the fact that we are able to use language to talk about so many different kinds and aspects of human experience. It therefore occupies a central position in neurocognitive structure, which allows us to gain access to an understanding of other cognitive subsystems.

Topics to be considered

No previous knowledge of neuroscience is required.

(This tutorial will be given in English.)


Links to related information:


 
Sydney Lamb
New Book: Pathways of the Brain
Selected Other Publications

34 Colloquium of Linguistics