13.3.12

Next talk at 6th Lodz Symposium: May 2012


(Lucas Bietti and Fatima Galiana) Contextualizing conversational remembering: the interplay of discourse, memory and context in multimodal interactions. 6th Lodz Symposium on New Developments in Linguistic Pragmatics (NDLP 2012). University of Lodz (May, 2012)

30.10.11

Bach Speaks: neuronal network for Music and Language

Bach Speaks: A Cortical “Language-Network” Serves the Processing of Music
Stefan Koelsch,*,†,1 Thomas C. Gunter,* D. Yves v. Cramon,* Stefan Zysset,*
Gabriele Lohmann,* and Angela D. Friederici*
*Max Planck Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Leipzig, Germany; and †Department of Neurology,
Harvard Medical School, 330 Brookline Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215


The aim of the present study was the investigation of neural correlates of music processing with fMRI. Chord sequences were presented to the participants, infrequently containing unexpected musical events. These events activated the areas of Broca and Wernicke, the superior temporal sulcus, Heschl’s gyrus, both planum polare and planum temporale, as well as the anterior superior insular cortices. Some of these brain structures have previously been shown to be
involved in music processing, but the cortical network comprising all these structures has up to now been thought to be domain-specific for language processing. To what extent this network might also be activated by the processing of non-linguistic information has remained unknown. The present fMRI-data reveal that the human brain employs this neuronal network also for the processing of musical information, suggesting that the cortical network known to support
language processing is less domain-specific than previously believed.

10.10.11

FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE in Poland subsuming
COGNITIVE approaches to PRAGMATICS

 CALL FOR PAPERS

Meaning, Context & Cognition (mcc 2011)

24-26 March 2011, University of Lodz, Poland

Integrated approach to yoga therapy and autism spectrum disorders in communication


Abstract

A specially designed Integrated Approach to Yoga Therapy module was applied to Autism Spectrum Disorders over a period of two academic years. Despite low numbers (six in each arm), consistency and magnitude of effects make the findings significant. Parental participation, allowing firm guidance to be given to each child, resulted in significant improvements in imitation and other skills, and in behavior at home and family relationships. We hypothesize that guided imitation of therapist body positions stimulated mirror neuron activation, resulting in improved sense of self.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder, communication, integrated approach to yoga therapy, social and imitation skills

Radhakrishna S, Nagarathna R, Nagendra HR. Integrated approach to yoga therapy and autism spectrum disorders. J Ayurveda Integr Med [serial online] 2010 [cited 2011 Oct 10];1:120-4. Available from: http://www.jaim.in/text.asp?2010/1/2/120/65089


9.10.11

NATURAL INTERACTIONS: MY THESIS PROJECT ON ALZHEIMER COMMUNICATION

ABSTRACT

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is clinically defined as a degenerative cerebral pathology, the cause of which is unknown. It affects the superior levels of cognitive functioning and is characterized by multiple deficits that compromise the mental and social functioning of the individual. From a sociocognitive and interactional approach, this project deals with the pragmatic dimension of the study of Alzheimer discourse.
The main aims are: 1) to investigate how people in a mild and moderate Alzheimer’s are able to construct a subjective representation about the ongoing context, and 2) to assess what structures of discourse show Alzheimer features, owing to an impairment of knowledge representation about the others recipients in talk.
The study will be based on a qualitative and ethnographic analysis of human interaction structures in real world-settings. The project will assess how memory systems and attentional processes interact with the abiltity to construct a mental representation about the ongoing context.

16.12.10

AAICAD 2011


Alzheimer's Association International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease 2011

Porte de Versailles - Paris, France
July 16-21, 2011

Call for Abstracts: November 2, 2010 – February 1, 2011

Submit abstracts for oral and poster presentations, plus a select number of featured research symposia sessions. Opportunities also include the Alzheimer's Imaging Consortium (AIC), a special one-day preconference event.

Submit your abstract now.

AAICAD 2011

Topics of Interest

  • Biology of amyloid, tau, inflammation and other neurodegenerative mechanisms
  • Epidemiology and risk factors
  • Genetics and genetic testing
  • Diagnosis, biomarkers, neuroimaging and clinical course of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders
  • Therapeutic strategies
  • Cellular and animal models
  • Molecular and cellular processes and pathologies
  • Social, behavioral and care research
  • Prevention
  • And more