Neural Bases of Language Spring 2024 (UG)

 

Course description

What are the brain bases of our ability to speak and understand language? Are some parts of the brain dedicated to language? What is it like to lose language? This course provides a state-of-the-art survey of the cognitive neuroscience of language, a rapidly developing multidisciplinary field in the intersection of Linguistics, Psycholinguistics and Neuroscience. Lectures cover all aspects of language processing in the healthy brain from early sensory perception to higher level semantic interpretation as well as a range of neurological and development language disorders, including aphasias, dyslexia and genetic language impairment. Functional neuroimaging techniques will be introduced.

Requirements

Attendance

Regular attendance in the synchronous sessions (Wed recitation and Thu discussion). Students arrive into the synchronous sessions having (i) watched the lecture-videos and (ii) done the reading, in that order. The lectures offer background for understanding the reading, which in most cases is an original research article, the author of which we meet in the Tues morning discussion session.

Class YouTube channel

Before recitation each Wed, students watch the videos of that week’s topic on this YouTube channel:
Neural Bases of Language with Liina Pylkkanen – YouTube

Readings

There is no textbook. Instead, all readings are available on this website. You must be on the NYU network to access most journal articles.

In person activities: quizzes, discussion, presentations

Each  class start with a short quiz to assess learning. If it reveals weak points, we will spend 10-15 mins covering them. After that, the rest of the class will consist of activities designed to deepen what you learned from the online lectures and readings. In most of the classes, will play Science Shark Tank, modeled after the Shark Tank TV show. Students will be on a rotation to present research ideas to a panel consisting of the other students. The instructor and the TA will serve as “area experts” for the panel to consult. 

Writing

After in-class presentations of research ideas, students will write up those ideas, taking into account the feedback given in class. Although the presentations will be done as a group, each student generates their own write-up. Our focus will be on learning to ask good questions. The panel members will also write up a brief summary of the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed project. The deadline for submitting the write-ups is Fri 5pm .

Use of Generative AI in this course

In your weekly write-ups of the project presentations and panel evaluations, you will use ChatGPT as an editorial assistant. You will submit:
(a) the text you wrote
(b) ChatGPT’s edited version of the text in response to the prompt “Please proofread this text, correcting any typos or ungrammatical language. If parts of the text are unclear or hard to understand, please clarify and improve the fluency.” Highlight in yellow the changes that ChatGPT made.
(c) an evaluation of how ChatGPT did. Either just a thumbs up or a brief explanation of how it messed up.

In your Science Shark Tank Presentations, you have a lot of freedom to use Generative AI as long as you fully acknowledge on the last slide how you used it. You can use DALLE to create visuals (make sure to put the DALLE logo right next to the image). You can use ChatGPT to give you feedback on the clarity of the text in your slides. Whatever you do, just make sure to disclose and acknowledge it clearly.

A midterm and a final exam

Both exams will be a mixture of multiple choice and short answer questions. The final exam covers primarily, but not exclusively, post-midterm material. There will be no make-up exams. You receive a zero grade for an exam missed without a written, valid excuse acceptable to the instructor (e.g., medical reasons).

Grading

• Writing (two project proposals): 20%
• Participation (in class and recitation + panel write-ups): 15%
• Quizzes: 15%
• Midterm: 25%
• Final: 25%

Your well-being

During the semester, you may experience challenges that will affect your ability to study and do your work. The earlier you let us know about your challenges, the better our chances to help you. Do not wait until the exam to communicate if you are struggling.

Anti-Racism Pledge

I will be brave enough to have uncomfortable conversations and take action against racism at NYU.

Schedule and course materials:

Default: Wednesday recitation w NF, Thu active learning w LP.  Pre-presentation small group meetings with LP on Tuesdays following this schedule.  Exceptions to the default are marked in red.  rec = recitation; AL = active learning; SST = Science Shark Tank

DATES	TOPIC	VIDEOS (watch before Wed recitation)	READ (before Wed recitation)
Jan-23 TUES	WELCOME
Jan -24 WED Recitation Jan-25 THU AL	INTRO and BRAIN BASICS	SET 1 on YouTube just slides + some brain fun: Interactive Brain	Small & Hickok: The Neurobiology of Language
Jan-30 TUES LP office hours Jan-31 WED Recitation Feb-1 THU AL	METHODS I: Early aphasiology and the Classic Model	SET 2 on YouTube just slides	Wilson, S. & Fridriksson, J. Aphasia and aphasia recovery. In Gazzaniga et al (Eds.) The Cognitive Neurosciences Sixth Edition. MIT Press, Cambridge MA.
Feb-6 TUES (SST 1-2 brainstorm w LP) Feb-7 WED MEG  Lab visit Feb-8 THU AL	METHODS II: Neuroimaging and electrophysiology	SET 3 on YouTube just slides	Ahlfors, Seppo P., and Maria Mody. “Overview of MEG.” Organizational research methods 22.1 (2019): 95-115. Beauchamp, M. S. (2002). Functional MRI for beginners. Nature Neuroscience, 5(5), 397-398.
Feb-13 TUES  (SST 1-2 practise w LP; SST 3-4 brainstorm) Feb-14 WED Recitation Feb-15 THU AL	SPEECH (SST)	SET 4 on YouTube *just slides	Phillips, C. et al. (2000). Auditory Cortex Accesses Phonological Categories: An MEG Mismatch Study. J. Cogn. Neurosci. 12: 1038-1055.
Feb-20 TUES  (SST 3-4 practise w LP; SST 5-6 brainstorm) Feb-21 WED Recitation Feb-22 THU AL	READING (SST)	SET 5 on YouTube *just slides	Dehaene, S. (2013, May). Inside the letterbox: how literacy transforms the human brain. In Cerebrum: the Dana forum on brain science (Vol. 2013). Dana Foundation.
Feb-27  TUES (SST 5-6 practise w LP; SST 7-8 brainstorm) Feb-28  WED Recitation Feb-29 THU AL	LEXICAL ACCESS (SST)	SET 6 on YouTube *just slides	Federmeier, K. D., Kutas, M., & Dickson, D. S. (2016). A common neural progression to meaning in about a third of a second. In Neurobiology of language (pp. 557-567). Academic Press.
Mar-5 TUES	Midterm Q&A w LP
Mar-6 WED	Midterm Review w NF
Mar-7 THU	MIDTERM EXAM
Mar-12 TUES (SST 7-8 practise w LP; SST 9-10 brainstorm) Mar-13 WED Recitation Mar-14 THU AL	MORPHOLOGY (SST)	SET 7 on YouTube just slides	S&H Chapter 13: Morphology (Marantz) Zweig, E., & Pylkkänen, L. (2009). A visual M170 effect of morphological complexity. Language and Cognitive Processes, 24(3), 412-439.
Mar 18-22	SPRING BREAK
Mar-26  TUES (SST 9-10 practise w LP; SST 11-12 brainstorm) Mar-27 WED Recitation Mar-28 THU AL	SYNTAX & SEMANTICS: CLASSICS (SST)	SET 8 on YouTube just slides	Kaan, E. & Swaab, T.Y. (2002). The brain circuitry of syntactic comprehension, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 6(8), 350-356.
Apr-2  TUES (SST 11-12 practise w LP; SST 13-14 brainstorm) Apr-3 WED Recitation Apr-4 THU AL	SYNTAX-SEMANTICS: BASIC COMPOSITION (SST)	SET 9 on YouTube just slides	Pylkkänen, L. (2019). The neural basis of combinatory syntax and semantics. Science, 366(6461), 62-66.
Apr-9  TUES (SST 13-14 practise w LP; SST 15-16 brainstorm) Apr-10 WED Recitation Apr-11 THU AL	THE BILINGUAL BRAIN (SST)	SET 10 on YouTube just slides	Chapter 2 & Chapter 3  from Costa, A. (2020). The Bilingual Brain: And What It Tells Us about the Science of Language. Penguin UK.
Apr-16  TUES (SST 15-16 practise w LP; SST 17-18 brainstorm) Apr-17 WED Recitation Apr-18 THU AL	SIGN LANGUAGE (SST)	SET 11 on YouTube just slides	Emmorey, K. & MacSweeney, M. (2020)The Neurobiology of Sign Language Processing. In Gazzaniga MS, Mangun GR, Poeppel D, editors. The Cognitive Neurosciences VI. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press; 2020.
Apr-23  TUES (SST 17-18 practise w LP) Apr-24 WED Recitation Apr-25 THU AL	CAN LANGUAGE DISSOCIATE FROM OTHER ABILITIES? SLI AND WILLIAMS SYNDROME (SST)	SET 12 on YouTube & Oliver Sacks movie just slides	Gopnik, M. (1997). Language deficits and genetic factors. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 1(1), 5-9. (2) Lenhoff, H. M., Wang, P. P., Greenberg, F., & Bellugi, U. (1997). Williams Syndrome and the Brain. Scientific American, 68-73.
APR-30 TUES	Final Q&A w NF
May-1 WED	Final Review w LP ON ZOOM
May-2 THU	FINAL EXAM