Guest lectures by Professor David Corina
The Department of Special Needs Education and the Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies at the University of Oslo announce two open guest lectures by Professor David Corina on August 30 and 31, 2007. Dr. Corina is the director of the Cognitive Neurolinguistics Lab at the Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, USA:
Thursday, August 30, 2.15-4.00 p.m., Auditorium 1, Helga Engs hus:Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies lecture:
”Language and Gesture: Evidence from the processing of American Sign Language”
There is growing interest in the relationship between language and human action perception. The discovery of a mirror-neuron system (MNS) in Macaque monkeys provides a neural basis for a tight coupling between action and perception representations and has served as a basis for fertile speculation of an intimate relationship between human action perception and language. In this talk, I take a critical look at the claims of a mirror-neuron system in humans and discuss data from the processing of a manual language, American Sign Language. Our data calls into question the explanatory power of a MNS account of human language.
Friday, August 31, 1.15-3.00 p.m., Auditorium 1, Helga Engs hus:
Department of Special Needs Education lecture:
Historically, accounts of the neural representation of human language have focused on studies of spoken languages. To provide a fuller account of the human capacity for language requires the inclusion of studies of signed languages of the deaf. In this talk, citing a variety of methodologies, I review the accruing evidence for the importance of left hemisphere mediation of American Sign Language. In addition, I will discuss controversial evidence for modality specific differences between speech and signed languages.
Dr. Corina’s research focuses on understanding the neural bases of higher cognitive function, specifically language and memory. He is interested in specifying functional and neuroanatomical models of human behaviour and elucidating the degrees of plasticity within systems related to language and memory. His research encompasses psychology, linguistics, computational modelling and neuroscience, incorporating techniques that include self-designed behavioural tests, functional imaging (fMRI and functional spectroscopy), cortical stimulation and single unit recording. Investigating the neural plasticity of primary human language areas in the brain, Dr. Corina conducts studies that compare language processing in deaf users of American Sign Language and hearing users of spoken language. His recent publications include:
Corina, DP and Knapp, H (2006). “Sign language processing and the mirror neuron system.” Cortex 42(4):529-39.
San Jose-Robertson, L, Corina DP, Ackerman, D, Guillemin, A, and Braun, AR (2004). “Neural systems for sign language production: mechanisms supporting lexical selection, phonological encoding, and articulation.” Hum Brain Mapp 23(3):156-67.
For enquiries: Professor Arnfinn M. Vonen (22858051, a.m.vonen@isp.uio.no).