YNiC seminar 26th April (external speaker)

Dear Users This Thursday (4.30-5.30pm in YNiC) Yury Shtyrov from the CBU will be giving a talk on "Studying language in and by the brain: Configuration and formation of word representations assessed neurophysiologically". Please see below for the talk abstract. Here is a link to Yury's CBU webpage: http://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/people/yury.shtyrov/ Yury will be staying for dinner in York. If you would like to join us for dinner please let me know. Everyone is welcome to attend and there will be drinks available after the seminar. Best wishes Rebecca Abstract: Can neurophysiology address questions debated in (psycho)linguistics such as the nature of word representations, how they are formed in learning, what configuration they take and how they interact? In this talk, we will explore the neural reflections of linguistic processing that can be registered using time-resolved neurophysiological recordings available in magneto- and electro-encephalography (MEG, EEG). I will try to convince you of the ultra-rapid speed and automaticity of lexical activations in the brain and the distributed character of word representations dependent on their semantic features. Time permitting, we will see how MEG/EEG can be used to resolve morphosyntactic questions and track the neural correlates of rapid word learning with simple yet precise methodologies that can potentially be used also in clinical assessment of disturbances in linguistic processes -- ************************************************************************ Dr. Rebecca E. Millman Science Liaison Officer York Neuroimaging Centre The Biocentre York Science Park Heslington YO10 5DG Tel: +44 (0) 1904 567614 Fax: +44 (0) 1904 435356