Course Description

This course examines the ways in which language breaks down after brain damage can inform our understanding of language processing in unimpaired individuals. This approach is known as cognitive neuropsychology and the course will illustrate how language impairment can test and develop theories in ways which both complements and extends data from experimental studies with individuals with intact language.

Outline

1. The course will begin with a brief introduction to aphasia (acquired language disorder) giving an overview of the major symptoms and how they vary from person to person.
2. This will be followed by a discussion of the principles of cognitive neuropsychology - whereby data from individuals with cognitive impairments is used to test and develop theories of cognitive processes.
3. A simple model of the levels of processing that have been proposed to occur in language production will be introduced.
4. We will demonstrate how, in aphasia, different symptom patterns can result from brain damage impairing different levels of processing within the model of language production.
5. We will then turn to how data from people with aphasia can be used to test and develop theories of language production. Hence we will first discuss theories of language production in more detail and draw attention to particular controversies in the literature. We will then provide examples of how data from people with aphasia can be used to discriminate between competing accounts. These will include: accounts of how homophones (e.g. key/quay) are represented and whether spelling must be mediated by speaking.

Course Prerequisites

The course does not assume any prior knowledge in this area, and aims to provide participants with a 'taster' of the debates in language processing and the fascinating world of language impairments.

Presenter

Professor Lydnsey Nickels

Presenter Biography

My research field can be broadly characterised as "the cognitive neuropsychology of language". In other words, I investigate language impairments (both developmental and acquired as a result of brain damage) and use these to test the adequacy of cognitive models of language comprehension and production. For example, we recently examined whether a current computational model of reading could, when 'lesioned' simulate the patterns of reading shown by individuals with reading disorders following stroke. Not only can language impairments inform cognitive theories, but also theories can inform our understanding of the nature of language impairments and help identify how best to remediate them. Hence, a major focus of my research is the treatment of acquired language impairment (aphasia)and impaired literacy (dyslexia) in children and adults. One strand of this research has focused on treatments for the difficulties people with aphasia have in retrieving the words they want to say and whether one type of task might be more effective than another.