Minicourse at EALing 2009 Ecole d'Automne de Linguistique September 2009
Neural Bases of Syntax and Semantics: State of the Art
Liina Pylkkänen
New York University
Sept 18, 19, 21, 22; 2:00-3:15pm
Course description:
This course will review recent advances in our understanding of the neural substrates of syntactic and semantic processing. Instead of a comprehensive review of the extant cognitive neuroscience literature on these topics, I will focus on research that has been motivated and guided by linguistic theory. Four topics will be covered:
1. Morphological decomposition
SLIDES
Zweig, E. & Pylkkänen, L. (2009). A visual M170 effect of morphological complexity. Language and Cognitive Processes, 24, 412 - 439.
[pdf]
Solomyak O, Marantz A. Evidence for Early Morphological Decomposition in Visual Word Recognition. J Cogn Neurosci. 2009 Jul 7. [Epub ahead of print]
[pdf]
2. Early effects of syntactic category
SLIDES
Friederici, A. D., Pfeifer, E., & Hahne, A. (1993). Event-related brain potentials during natural speech processing: Effects of semantic, morphological and syntactic violations. Brain Research and Cognitive Brain Research, 1(3), 183–192.
[pdf]
Dikker, S., Rabagliati, H., & Pylkkänen, L. (2009). Sensitivity to Syntax in Visual Cortex. Cognition, 110, 293-321.
[pdf]
3. Syntactic composition
SLIDES
Edith Kaan and Tamara Y. Swaab, The brain circuitry of syntactic comprehension, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 6, 350-356.
[pdf]
Brennan, J., Nir, Y., Hasson, U., Malach, R., Heeger, D., & Pylkkänen, L. (submitted). Syntactic complexity predicts anterior temporal activity during natural story listening. [pdf]
4. Semantic composition
SLIDES
Pylkkänen, L. & McElree, B. (2007). An MEG Study of Silent Meaning. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 19, 1905-1921.
[pdf]
Baggio G, Choma T, van Lambalgen M, Hagoort P. Coercion and Compositionality. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. 2009 Jul 7. [Epub ahead of print]
[pdf]
Hagoort, P., Hald, L., Bastiaansen, M., Petersson, K.M. (2004) Integration of word meaning and world knowledge in language comprehension. Science, 304, 438-41.
[pdf]
Pylkkänen, L., Oliveri, B. & Smart, A. (in press). Semantics vs. World Knowledge in Prefrontal Cortex. Language and Cognitive Processes.
[pdf]
Level:
Some familiarity with experimental research and cognitive neuroscience methods would be a plus, but I will unpack all concepts such that even students with purely theoretical backgrounds can follow.
