Neurolinguistics

This course introduces the key principles and goals of modern neurolinguistics. Neurolinguistics is a science that incorporates methods and paradigms of linguistics and neuroscience.
This course discusses the main units and organizational principles of the human nervous system that underlie our language capacity. You will learn about the neurophysiological aspects of first and second language learning, discover clinical research in speech, reading and writing disorders, and also find out about speech disorders accompanying various psychiatric conditions. The course includes information on the history of neurolinguistics, modern techniques and methods of neurolinguistic research, and also provides detailed examples of several recent studies in the field.

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Distance-learning. The course is organized on the principle of transferring the pedagogical experience of SPbU teachers through the use of modern innovative technologies, which include video lectures accompanied by texts, explanations, links, assignments, tests, as well as receiving feedback from the course authors.

This course may be of interest to bachelors, masters and graduate students of higher educational institutions, as well as to all those who are interested in the designated topic. The course will help potential employees to receive evidence-based information that gives a competitive advantage in their own employment.

A prerequisite for preparing for this course is an introductory course in linguistics or neurophysiology. This course is for undergraduate students.

The outline of the course:

1. Introduction. Language and the brain 
Module 1 introduces you to the main ideas and history of neurolinguistics. In this module you will learn how the human brain is organized and which cortical areas provide the basis for our language capacity. It also touches upon neuroevolution and the differences between the human brain and the brains of other mammals.

2. Modern methods of neurolinguistic research, part I
In Module 2 you will learn about modern methods and techniques of neurolinguistic research, such as EEG, MEG, intracranial EEG, evoked and induced potentials.

3. Modern methods of neurolinguistic research, part II
Module 3 continues the discussion of neurolinguistic research methods, introducing you to the fMRI method. It also provides examples of three recent neurolinguistic studies, detailing every stage: how the experiments were planned and conducted, and how the data was analysed.

4. First and second language acquisition
Module 4 discusses how children learn their first and second languages. It also touches upon the differences in the ways monolinguals and bilinguals process linguistic information.

5. Clinical research in neurolinguistics, part I
Modules 5 and 6 deal with clinical research in neurolinguistics. In Module 5 you will learn about aphasia. We will discuss the underlying causes of this disorder, its main types and different approaches to their classification and assessment. You will also learn about linguistic models based on aphasia data.

6. Clinical research in neurolinguistics, part II
Module 6 continues the topic of clinical research in neurolinguistics. In this module you will learn about auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia, their causes and treatment. This module also discusses brain asymmetry with regards to language and dichotic listening as a means of studying brain asymmetry.

7. Speech and writing disorders
Module 7 is devoted to dyslexia and its comorbidities. This module will introduce you to four different approaches to dyslexia. You will also learn what longitudinal studies can tell us about dyslexia.

Successful completion of this course will enable the student to:

• To form ideas about the methods of neurolinguistic research, actual tasks of modern neurolinguistics.
• Get a general idea of ​​the history of the development of this science.
• To get acquainted with specific examples of the latest neurolinguistic research and its results.
• To form ideas about the main patterns of development of language and speech in ontogeny, as well as in the study of a second language.
• Get an idea about the main types of language disorders and some of the therapeutic methods used to compensate for them.

The discipline is involved in the formation of the universal competencies of students in the educational programs of the bachelor's / specialist's degree, as well as other competencies provided for by the educational program.

In this course you will learn:

• main theoretical problems of neurolinguistics,
• system of basic concepts and basic terms,
• current state and prospects for the development of the discipline,
• modern methods of experimental research on the generation and perception of speech, as well as the patterns of mastering the native and foreign languages, speech disorders.

You will be able:

• analyze traditional and modern approaches to the study of the neurobiological mechanisms of speech;
• perceive, generalize, analyze new information on the subject,
• to apply the acquired knowledge in the field of neurolinguistics in research activities.

You will master the following skills:

• skills in planning neurolinguistic research using modern techniques;
• skills of professional communication in English using the conceptual apparatus of neurolinguistics.