The Language Neuroscience Podcast

In this episode, I talk with Nina Kazanina and Alexis Hervais-Adelman, both at the University of Geneva, about the science behind the upcoming SNL 2026 meeting in Geneva, and the evolutionary and cross-species perspective that the NCCR Evolving Language consortium brings to it. We discuss Nina’s argument that the neural ingredients for a “language of thought” are already available in the spatial navigation system of the rodent brain, and Alexis’s proposal that vocal communication came to dominate human language because of how early the fetus hears and learns in the womb.

Kazanina N, Poeppel D. The neural ingredients for a language of thought are available. Trends Cogn Sci 2023; 27: 996-1007. [doi]

Kazanina lab (NeuroLingo Lab)

Hervais-Adelman A, Townsend SW. How did vocal communication come to dominate human language? A view from the womb. PLoS Biol 2025; 23: e3003141. [doi]

Hervais-Adelman lab (Dynamics of Brain and Language Lab)

NCCR Evolving Language

SNL 2026

In this episode, I talk with Michael Alley, Engineering Communications Teaching Professor in the Penn State College of Engineering about his radical approach to better scientific presentations.

Alley M. The craft of scientific presentations: Critical steps to succeed and critical errors to avoid. Springer, 2013. [doi]

Garner JK, Alley M. How the design of presentation slides affects audience comprehension: A case for the assertion-evidence approach. Int J Eng Educ 2013; 26: 1564-79. [pdf]

Wilson SM. Neural correlates of recovery from aphasia after stroke. C-STAR Lecture Series. Columbia, SC. Sep 9, 2022. [video]

Hayashi C. The magnificence of spider silk. TED Talks. Sep, 2011. [video]

Alley website

In this episode, I talk with Valentina Borghesani and Ryan Law from the SNL Program Committee about their exciting plans for the 2026 conference in Geneva, Switzerland.

SNL 2026

In this epidode, I talk with Ellen Bialystok, Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology at York University, about her case for the “bilingual advantage”, or to be more precise, the case that growing up in a bilingual environment reconfigures mind and brain for adaptability, effiency, and resiliance.

Bialystok E, Craik FIM, Klein R, Viswanathan M. Bilingualism, aging, and cognitive control: Evidence from the Simon task. Psychol Aging 2004; 19: 290-303. [doi]

Bialystok E, Craik FIM, Freedman M. Bilingualism as a protection against the onset of symptoms of dementia. Neuropsychologia 2007; 45: 459-64. [doi]

Schweizer TA, Ware J, Fischer CE, Craik FIM, Bialystok E. Bilingualism as a contributor to cognitive reserve: Evidence from brain atrophy in Alzheimer’s disease. Cortex 2012; 48: 991-6. [doi]

Berkes M, Bialystok E, Craik FIM, Troyer A, Freedman M. Conversion of mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer disease in monolingual and bilingual patients. Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord 2020; 34: 225. [doi]

Bialystok E, Hawrylewicz K, Grundy JG, Chung-Fat-Yim A. The swerve: How childhood bilingualism changed from liability to benefit. Dev Psychol 2022; 58: 1429-40. [doi]

Bialystok E. Bilingualism modifies cognition through adaptation, not transfer. Trends Cogn Sci 2024; 28: 987-97. [doi]

Related papers:

Alladi S, Bak TH, Duggirala V, et al. Bilingualism delays age at onset of dementia, independent of education and immigration status. Neurology 2013; 81: 1938-44. [doi]

Zahodne LB, Schofield PW, Farrell MT, Stern Y, Manly JJ. Bilingualism does not alter cognitive decline or dementia risk among Spanish-speaking immigrants. Neuropsychology 2014; 28: 238-46. [doi]

Lifespan Cognition And Development Lab

In this epidode, I talk with Greg Hickok, Distinguished Professor of Cognitive Sciences & Language Science at the University of California, Irvine, about his new book ‘Wired for words: the neural architecture of language’.

Hickok G. Wired for words: The neural architecture of language. 2025; MIT Press.

Key Hickok papers:

Hickok G, Poeppel D. The cortical organization of speech processing. Nat Rev Neurosci 2007; 8: 393-402. [doi]

Hickok G. Computational neuroanatomy of speech production. Nat Rev Neurosci 2012; 13: 135-45. [doi]

Hickok G, Houde J, Rong F. Sensorimotor integration in speech processing: Computational basis and neural organization. Neuron 2011; 69: 407-22. [doi]

Hickok G, Buchsbaum B, Humphries C, Muftuler T. Auditory-motor interaction revealed by fMRI: speech, music, and working memory in area Spt. J Cogn Neurosci 2003; 15: 673-82. [doi]

Matchin W, Hickok G. The cortical organization of syntax. Cereb Cortex 2020; 30: 1481-98. [doi]

Hickok G, Venezia J, Teghipco A. Beyond Broca: Neural architecture and evolution of a dual motor speech coordination system. Brain 2023; 146: 1775-90. [doi]

Rogalsky C, Basilakos A, Rorden C, Pillay S, LaCroix AN, Keator L, Mickelsen S, Anderson SW, Love T, Fridriksson J, Binder J, Hickok G. The neuroanatomy of speech processing: a large-scale lesion study. J Cogn Neurosci 2022; 34: 1355-75. [doi]

Rogalsky C, Pitz E, Hillis AE, Hickok G. Auditory word comprehension impairment in acute stroke: relative contribution of phonemic versus semantic factors. Brain Lang 2008; 107: 167-9. [doi]

Hickok G, Okada K, Barr W, Pa J, Rogalsky C, Donnelly K, Barde L, Grant A. Bilateral capacity for speech sound processing in auditory comprehension: evidence from Wada procedures. Brain Lang 2008; 107: 179-84. [doi]

Other papers mentioned:

Wilson SM, Entrup JL, Schneck SM, Onuscheck CF, Levy DF, Rahman M, Willey E, Casilio M, Yen M, Brito AC, Kam W, Davis LT, de Riesthal M, Kirshner HS. Recovery from aphasia in the first year after stroke. Brain 2023; 146: 1021-39. [doi]

Risse GL, Gates JR, Fangman MC. A reconsideration of bilateral language representation based on the intracarotid amobarbital procedure. Brain Cogn 1997; 33: 118-32. [doi]

In this epidode, I talk with Deborah Levy, Lecturer at Princeton University, about her paper ‘Role for left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex in self-generated, but not externally cued, language production’, which just came out in Neurobiology of Language.

Levy D, Greicius Q, Wang C, Ko E, Xu D, Andrews J, Chang EF. Role for left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex in self-generated, but not externally cued, language production. Neurobiol Lang 2025; 6:nol_a_00166. [doi]

Levy website

In this episode, I talk with Steve Politzer-Ahles and Bernard Jap about their paper ‘Can the mismatch negativity really be elicited by abstract linguistic contrasts?’, which was recently published as a Registered Report in Neurobiology of Language.

Politzer-Ahles S, Jap BAJ. Can the mismatch negativity really be elicited by abstract linguistic contrasts? Neurobiol Lang 2024; 5: 818–843. [doi]

Politzer-Ahles website

Jap website

In the episode, I talk with Julius Fridriksson, Professor of Communication Sciences and Vice President for Research at the University of South Carolina, about what's going on with the NIH since the recent change of administration.

In this episode, I talk with Masud Husain, Professor of Neurology and Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Oxford, about his recent editorial ‘A mountain of small things’.

Husain website

Husain M. A mountain of small things. Brain 2024; 147: 739. [doi]

In this episode, I talk with Maaike Vandermosten, Associate Professor in the Department of Neurosciences at KU Leuven, about the neural basis of developmental dyslexia, and neuroplasticity in recovery from aphasia.

Vandermosten website

Vanderauwera J, Wouters J, Vandermosten M, Ghesquière P. Early dynamics of white matter deficits in children developing dyslexia. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2017; 27: 69-77. [doi]

Beelen C, Vanderauwera J, Wouters J, Vandermosten M, Ghesquière P. Atypical gray matter in children with dyslexia before the onset of reading instruction. Cortex 2019; 121: 399–413. [doi]

Phan TV, Sima D, Smeets D, Ghesquière P, Wouters J, Vandermosten M. Structural brain dynamics across reading development: A longitudinal MRI study from kindergarten to grade 5. Hum Brain Mapp 2021; 42: 4497-509. [doi]

Clercq PD, Gonsalves AR, Gerrits R, Vandermosten M. Individualized functional localization of the language and multiple demand network in chronic post-stroke aphasia. bioRxiv 2024; 2024.01.12.575350. [doi]