Sprache und Gehirn
Selected Topics in Cognitive Neurosciences
This interdisciplinary seminar is taught in cooperation with the MSc Cognitive Neuroscience and the Bernstein Center (Prof. Aertsen, Prof. Rotter, Prof. Sippel), as well as with colleagues from linguistics (Prof. Jacobs, Dr. Blumenthal). Each semester, we choose a different topic related to an issue in the area of Neurolinguistics. The goal is to bring together perspectives from biology, cognitive science and linguistics in order to foster our understanding of how language is represented in the brain.
This coming term the topic of the seminar is Communication. We want to define the concept, think about prerequesites, defining characteristics, and features of communication systems. Computational neuroscience and cognitive modelling will be a special focus. Topics include theories of communication, communication between artificial systems, human agents, and animals, and the evolution and features of language. What is the role of shared knowledge? How does communication work when brain lesions make the usual channels ineffective? These and other questions will be addressed in student presentations and class discussions.