Neuroscience
523
Fall
Semester 2000
3
credits
Time:
Tuesdays
Location:
Room 201 in Building D.
Open
to graduate and undergraduate students.
Undergraduate
students should contact the course directors for permission.
Prerequisites: Some background in one or more of the following — Linguistics, Cognitive Psychology, or Neuroscience.
Rhonda
Friedman, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Neurology and GICCS
Email:
friedmar@georgetown.edu. Office:
Building D, room 207E
Michael
Ullman, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Neuroscience and GICCS
Email:
michael@georgetown.edu. Office:
Building D, room 207D
Building
D is the most Northwestern building on campus.
It lies between Entrances 3 and 4 off
Synopsis
This course is an introduction to the brain bases of language. Its primary goals are (1) to weave together basic concepts from linguistics, psychology, and neuroscience; (2) to introduce students to the study of brain and language (neurolinguistics); and (3) to present topics of special interest in this field. The course will begin with introductory lectures discussing basic issues and methods (including neuroimaging techniques) in cognitive neuroscience and linguistics. Next we will learn about the relation between the brain and the main domains of language: lexicon (the dictionary of words), phonology (the sound patterns of language), morphology (the grammatical structure of complex words), and syntax (the grammatical structure of phrases and sentences). These topics will be followed by examinations of the neurolinguistics of first and second language acquisition and processing, of reading, and of aphasia. Finally, several guest lecturers from the Baltimore/Washington area will present special topics in their areas of expertise. Most lectures will be followed by a class discussion, to be led by students. Throughout the course, multiple lines of evidence will be considered, including studies of people with acquired or developmental disorders (aphasia, neuro-degenerative disease, Specific Language Impairment, dyslexia, Williams syndrome), and investigations of brain blood flow (fMRI, PET), magneto-physiology (MEG), and electro-physiology (EEG/ERPs, cortical stimulation and recording).
In each class there will be a one hour lecture. Questions from students are strongly encouraged.
During the second hour four students will lead a debate between two opposing viewpoints on an interesting issue related to the topic of the day’s class. These two viewpoints will be represented by two papers. Two students will take each side of the debate. All other students are strongly encouraged to take part in the debate.
All students are required to read both the relevant background papers and the papers for the debate.
A paper is due on Tuesday December 5. The topic of the paper must be approved by either course director. The paper should compare two or more existing theories of a particular issue in the study of brain and language. Students are also encouraged to propose additional theories or modifications to existing theories. The paper must end with a description of a proposed experiment designed to distinguish between the theories. Other paper topics may be acceptable, but must be approved by either course director.
A final exam will be held on Tuesday December 12.
Class participation is required; you cannot pass the course without active participation.
Your grade will depend upon your class participation (both as the primary participant in the debates, and in the general discussion) (33%), and upon your performance on the final (33%) and the paper (33%).
Auditors are expected to be primary participants in one or more debates, and to contribute to class discussion.
SCHEDULE AND
Note: Schedule may change slightly.
1. Sept. 5 Overview of course.
Presented by Rhonda Friedman.
No reading.
2. Sept. 12 Introduction to Brain and Language: What is language? Fundamental issues in the study of brain and language. Methods used in the study of brain and language. Primer on neuroanatomy.
Lecturer: Michael Ullman
General Background:
Introduction to language: Gleason and Ratner (1998), chapter 1
Brain and language overview: Gazzaniga, Ivry, & Mangun (1998), chapter 8
Issues and methods: Kertesz (1994), chapter 1
Primer on neuroanatomy: Kolb and Whishaw (1996), chapter 3, especially pp 49-62
For Debate: None
3. Sept. 19 Lexicon and the brain.
Lecturer: Brenda Rapp, Johns
General Background:
Gazzaniga (1995), chapter 58 (by Rapp and Caramazza)
For Debate:
Shallice (1987)
Hillis, Rapp, Romani, & Caramazza (1990)
4. Sept. 26 Phonology and the brain.
Lecturer: David Poeppel,
General Background:
Psycholinguistics: Gleason and Ratner (1998), chapter 3 (by Yeni-Komshian)
Neurolinguistics: Gazzaniga (2000), chapter 60 (by Norris and Wise)
For Debate:
Näätänen et al. (1997)
Kuhl (1994)
5. Oct. 3 Syntax in the brain.
Lecturer: John Drury,
General Background:
Psycholinguistics: Gleason and Ratner (1998), chapter 5 (by Wingfield and Titone)
Neurolinguistics: Stemmer and Whitaker (1998), chapter 16 (by Kolk)
Neurolinguistics: Gazzaniga (2000), chapter 61 (by Brown, Hagoort, & Kutas)
For Debate:
Stromswold et al. (1996)
Just et al. (1996)
6. Oct. 10 Language acquisition.
Lecturer: George Hollich, Johns
General Background:
Psycholinguistics: Gleason and Ratner (1998), chapter 8 (by Gleason and Ratner)
Neurolinguistics: Gazzaniga (2000), chapter 63 (by Stromswold)
For Debate:
Akhtar, Carpenter and Tomasello (1996)
Samuelson and Smith (1998)
7. Oct. 17 Aphasia, and language functions of the brain.
Lecturer: Rhonda Friedman
General Background:
Goodglass and Kaplan (1983), chapter 2
Goodglass and Kaplan (1983), chapter 7
Feinberg and Farah (1997), chapter 9 (by Alexander)
For Debate:
Caramazza and McCloskey (1988)
Caplan (1988)
8. Oct. 24 The neurolinguistics of second language acquisition and processing.
Lecturer: Michael Ullman
General Background:
Psycholinguistics: Gleason and Ratner (1998), chapter 10 (by Snow)
Neurolinguistics: Stemmer and Whitaker (1998), chapter 29 (by Paradis)
Neurolinguistics: Ullman (submitted)
For Debate:
Weber-Fox and Neville (1996)
Perani et al. (1998)
9. Oct. 31 Reading and alexia.
Lecturer: Rhonda Friedman
General Background:
Caplan, (1992), Chapter 5 pp. 159-217 (You only need to read up to p. 192; the rest of the chapter is optional).
For Debate:
Coltheart, Curtis, Atkins, & Haller (1993)
Plaut, McClelland, & Seidenberg (1995)
10. Nov. 7 The declarative/procedural model of lexicon and grammar.
Lecturer: Michael Ullman
General Background:
Ullman (in press)
For Debate:
Ullman et al. (1997)
Joanisse and Seidenberg (1999)
11. Nov. 14 Event-Related Potential (ERP) studies of language.
Lecturer: Karsten
Steinhauer,
General Background:
Stemmer and Whitaker (1998), chapter 5 (by Segalowitz & Chevalier)
Stemmer and Whitaker (1998), chapter 6 (by Segalowitz & Chevalier)
For Debate:
Osterhout, McKinnon and Bersick (1996)
Coulson, King and Kutas (1998)
12. Nov. 21 The neural correlates of semantic memory.
Lecturer: Linda Chao, National Institute for Mental Health
General Background:
Gazzaniga (2000), chapter 71 (by Martin, Ungerleider & Haxby)
Gazzaniga (2000), chapter 72 (by Caramazza)
For Debate:
Thompson-Schill et al. (1999)
Caramazza (2000)
13. Nov. 28 Cortical and subcortical stimulation and recording.
Lecturer: Dana Boatman, Johns
General Background:
To be determined
For Debate:
To be determined
To be determined
14. Dec. 5 PAPER DUE
15. Dec. 12 FINAL EXAM
Books recommended for purchase if you want to learn more
Caplan (1992)
Excellent overview of the psychological and brain bases of language.
Feinberg and Farah (1997)
Very thorough overview of neuropsychology.
Gazzaniga (2000)
Current “bible” of Cognitive Neuroscience. Covers language, vision, memory, etc.
Goodglass (1993)
Overview of aphasia by a leading figure in the study of aphasia.
Kertesz (1994)
Recent overview of brain localization of cognitive function
Pinker (1994)
Beautifully written overview of the study of language. Targeted to the general public.
Posner and Raichle (1997)
Scientific American Library book on cognitive neuroscience, with a focus on neuroimaging.
Stemmer and Whitaker (1998)
Recent overview of neurolinguistics.
Toga and Mazziotta (1996)
Technical introduction to neuroimaging. Chapters on PET, fMRI, EEG/ERP, etc.
References
Akhtar, N., Carpenter, M., & Tomasello, M. (1996). The role of discourse novelty in early word learning. Child Development, 67, 635-645.
Caplan, D. (1988). On the role of group studies in neuropsychological and pathopsychological research. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 5(5), 535-548.
Caplan, D.
(1992). Language: Structure, processing,
and disorders.
Caramazza, A. (2000). Minding the facts: a comment on Thompson-Schill et al.'s "A neural basis for category and modality specificity of semantic knowledge". Neuropsychologia, 38(7), p944-949.
Caramazza, A., & McCloskey, M. (1988). The case for single-patient studies. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 5(5), 517-528.
Coltheart, M., Curtis, B., Atkins, P., & Haller, M. (1993). Models of reading aloud: Dual-route and parallel-distributed-processing approaches. Psychological Review, 100(4), 589-608.
Coulson, S., King, J. W., & Kutas, M. (1998). ERPs and domain specificity: beating a straw horse. Language and Cognitive Processes, 13(6), 653-672.
Feinberg, T. E.,
& Farah, M. J. (Eds.). (1997).
Behavioral neurology and neuropsychology.
Gazzaniga,
M. S. (Ed.). (1995). The cognitive neurosciences.
Gazzaniga,
M. S. (Ed.). (2000). The new cognitive neurosciences.
Gazzaniga, M. S., Ivry, R. B., & Mangun, G. R.
(1998). Cognitive Neuroscience:
The biology of the mind.
Gleason, J. B.,
& Ratner, N. B. (Eds.). (1998). Psycholinguistics (2 ed.).
Goodglass,
H. (1993). Understanding
aphasia.
Goodglass, H., & Kaplan, E.
(1983). The assessment of aphasia
and related disorders ( 2 ed.).
Hillis, A. E., Rapp, B., Romani, C., & Caramazza, A. (1990). Selective impairment of semantics in lexical processing. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 7(3), 191-243.
Joanisse, M. F., & Seidenberg, M. S. (1999). Impairments in verb morphology after brain injury: a connectionist model. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 96(13), p7592-7597.
Just, M. A., Carpenter, P. A., Keller, T. A., Eddy, W. F., & Thulborn, K. R. (1996). Brain activation modulated by sentence comprehension. Science, 274(4), 114-116.
Kertesz,
A. (1994). Localization
and neuroimaging in neuropsychology.
Kolb, B., & Whishaw,
Kuhl, P. K. (1994). Learning and representation in speech and language. Curr Opin Neurobiol, 4(6), p812-822.
Näätänen, R., Lehtokoski, A., Lennes, M., Cheour, M., Huotilainen, M., Iivonen, A., Vainio, M., Alku, P., Ilmoniemi, R. J., Luuk, A., Allik, J., Sinkkonen, J., & Alho, K. (1997). Language-specific phoneme representations revealed by electric and magnetic brain responses. Nature, 385(6615), p432-434.
Osterhout, L., McKinnon, R., Bersick, M., & Corey, V. (1996). On the language specificity of the brain response to syntactic anomalies: Is the syntactic positive shift a member of the P300 family? Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 8, 507-526.
Perani, D., Paulesu, E., Galles, N. S., Dupoux, E., Dehaene, S., Bettinardi, V., Cappa, S. F., Fazio, F., & Mehler, J. (1998). The bilingual brain. Proficiency and age of acquisition of the second language. Brain, 121(Pt 10), 1841-1852.
Pinker, S. (1994).
The language instinct.
Plaut, D.
C., McClelland, J. L., & Seidenberg, M. S. (1995). Reading exception words
and pseudowords: Are two routes really necessary? In
J. P. Levy & D. Bairaktaris & J. Bullinaria & P. Cairns (Eds.), Proceedings of the second neural computation and psychology workshop.
Posner, M. I.,
& Raichle, M. (1997). Images of mind.
Samuelson, L. K., & Smith, L. B. (1998). Memory and attention make smart word learning: an alternative account of Akhtar, Carpenter, and Tomasello. Child Dev, 69(1), p94-104.
Shallice, T. (1987).
Impairments of semantic processing: Multiple dissociations. In M. Coltheart & G. Sartori &
R. Job (Eds.), The cognitive neuropsychology
of language (pp. 111-127).
Stemmer, B., &
Whitaker, H. A. (Eds.). (1998). Handbook of neurolinguistics.
Stromswold, K., Caplan, D., Alpert, N., & Rauch, S. (1996). Localization of syntactic comprehension by positron emission tomography. Brain and Language, 52, 452-473.
Thompson-Schill, S. L., Aguirre, G. K., D'Esposito, M., & Farah, M. J. (1999). A neural basis for category and modality specificity of semantic knowledge. Neuropsychologia, 37(6), p671-676.
Toga, A. W., &
Mazziotta, J. C. (Eds.). (1996). Brain mapping: The methods.
Ullman, M. T. (in press). The declarative/procedural model of lexicon and grammar. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 29(6).
Ullman, M. T. (submitted). The neural basis of lexicon and grammar in first and second language: The declarative/procedural model. Bilingualism.
Ullman, M. T., Corkin, S., Coppola, M., Hickok, G., Growdon, J. H., Koroshetz, W. J., & Pinker, S. (1997). A Neural Dissociation within Language: Evidence that the mental dictionary is part of declarative memory, and that grammatical rules are processed by the procedural system. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 9(2), 266-276.
Weber-Fox, C., & Neville, H. J. (1996). Maturational constraints on functional specializations for language processing: ERP and behavioral evidence in bilingual speakers. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 8, 231-256.