ERC FUNDED PROJECTS

"150 years after Broca's seminal statement "Nous parlons avec l'hémisphère gauche" we still do not know how or why we have this bias. I propose that by studying cases of impaired language development and combining genetic and neuropsychological approaches we will be able to make a leap forward in our understanding of the quintessentially human characteristic of functional cerebral asymmetry. I argue that contradictory findings in the literature may be reconciled if we adopt a novel approach to cerebral asymmetry. In particular, I propose a network efficiency hypothesis which maintains that optimal development depends on organisation of key language functions within the same cerebral hemisphere. In project A, I will combine behavioural measures with functional transcranial Doppler ultrasound (fTCD) measures of blood flow and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to identify individual differences in patterns of dissociation between language functions in lateralisation. In project B I will test the prediction that risk for language and literacy impairment is increased if different language functions are represented in opposite hemispheres. For project C, simulations of predictions from genetic models will be tested using data on twin-cotwin similarity in language lateralisation. Project D will test a 'double hit' genetic model that predicts that neurodevelopmental abnormalities, including language deficits and inconsistent asymmetry, arise when there is more than one hit on a functional brain circuit. For this study we will use an existing sample of individuals already known to have one 'hit' on the neuroligin-neurexin circuit, viz people with an additional dose of neuroligin caused by an extra sex chromosome. Project E will focus on individuals with inconsistent patterns of language laterality and will look for rare genetic mutations and structural rearrangements associated with a departure from consistent left hemisphere language."

2 497 907 €

Start date: 2016-10-01, End date: 2021-09-30

The human brain has evolved the ability to support communication in complex and dynamic environments. In such environments, language is learned, and mostly used in face-to-face contexts in which processing and learning is based on multiple cues: linguistic (such as lexical, syntactic), but also discourse, prosody, face and hands (gestures). Yet, our understanding of how language is learnt and processed, and its associated neural circuitry, comes almost exclusively from reductionist approaches in which the multimodal signal is reduced to speech or text. ECOLANG will pioneer a new way to study language comprehension and learning using a real-world approach in which language is analysed in its rich face-to-face multimodal environment (i.e., language’s ecological niche). Experimental rigour is not compromised by the use of innovative technologies (combining automatic, manual and crowdsourcing methods for annotation; creating avatar stimuli for our experiments) and state-of-the-art modelling and data analysis (probabilistic modelling and network-based analyses). ECOLANG studies how the different cues available in face-to-face communication dynamically contribute to processing and learning in adults, children and aphasic patients in contexts representative of everyday conversation. We collect and annotate a corpus of naturalistic language which is then used to derive quantitative informativeness measures for each cue and their combination using computational models, tested and refined on the basis of behavioural and neuroscientific data. We use converging methodologies (behavioural, EEG, fMRI and lesion-symptom mapping) and we investigate different populations (3-4 years old children, healthy and aphasic adults) in order to develop mechanistic accounts of multimodal communication at the cognitive as well as neural level that can explain processing and learning (by both children and adults) and can have impact on the rehabilitation of language functions after stroke.

2 243 584 €

Start date: 2018-01-01, End date: 2022-12-31

In morpho-phonological alternations the shapes of morphemes differ between morphologically related word forms. In these alternations the morphological environment is also implicated (revére ~ réverence verb [iː] ~ noun [ɛ] and stress differ) unlike alternations which are conditioned only by the phonological environment. The opaque phonological relationship between morphologically related forms has been a long-standing challenge in theoretical, historical, psycho- and neuro-linguistics, and computational linguistics alike. Morpho-phonological alternations of all kinds have been analysed across the languages of the world; but fundamental questions have remained controversial or indeed unasked: ▪ Why do they exist in the first place and why are they so widespread? ▪ How do they come about and what is their diachronic time-course? ▪ How are they represented in mental lexicons and how are they processed? Rather than setting morpho-phonological alternations aside as irregularities of morphology (requiring individual listing and storing), we recognise certain kinds of them (stress shifts, feature changes, deletions, and tonal changes) as something universally to be expected in mental lexicons and as something the brains of speakers and listeners can easily handle. The position that we advocate is that morpho-phonological variants are not listed and stored independently, but rather are mapped onto single abstract representations. This is a controversial position, and its defence requires the systematic study of types of alternations and their histories, and precise hypotheses about the nature of mental representations. What distinguishes our approach is that we combine expertise in (a) theoretical and typological linguistics, (b) brain-imaging methods, and (c) computational modeling to shed light on our questions concerning the existence and cross-linguistic incidence of morpho-phonological alternations, their diachronic profiles, their processing and mental representation.

2 605 261 €

Start date: 2016-10-01, End date: 2021-09-30

The project aims to establish an authoritative scientific framework for understanding the relationship between group ritual, social cohesion, and pro-group behaviour. Rituals have shaped human societies for millennia, but the exact social consequences of rituals are poorly understood. The proposed research will identify the fundamental components of rituals worldwide and chart their effects on patterns of group alignment and action. Doing so will have a lasting impact on basic understandings of the nature, causes, and consequences of ritual dynamics as well as open up exciting new avenues of inquiry that bridge the humanities and social sciences. It is proposed that within numerous cultures and group types, collective rituals come in two main forms with distinct consequences: 1) affectively-intense, rarely-enacted rituals bond group members tightly and motivate extreme self-sacrifice; 2) frequently repeated rituals create allegiance to broad collectives and motivate ingroup bias. Using this model as a starting point, the proposed research programme will seek to achieve three tightly linked objectives. Objective 1 will examine psychological mechanisms underlying rituals’ effects on group cohesion and behaviour in ten nations. Objective 2 will focus on the ritual dynamics of special populations exposed to group-related violence (e.g., war veterans, ex-convicts, war-torn communities). Objective 3 will examine the functions of ritual and cohesion in cultural group selection. Using new techniques, we will quantitatively code and analyse qualitative data on ritual and cohesion in large historical databases from hundreds of groups over the past 12,000 years. Overall, these research objectives aim to provide insights into key questions (e.g., what are the fundamental building blocks of group rituals?), understudied groups (e.g., revolutionary combatants), and unresolved debates in many fields (e.g., what motivates self-sacrifice?).

2 499 980 €

Start date: 2016-10-01, End date: 2021-09-30