Consistent with our developing tradition, the fourth annual meeting of the Society for the Neurobiology of Language will feature two keynote sessions as well as two scintillating debates about the role of the insula in speech and language and the role of the angular gyrus in semantic processing. State-of-the-art keynotes will be delivered by Barbara L. Finlay and Nikos K. Logothetis.

Keynote Sessions

Barbara L. Finlay

Beyond columns and areas: developmental gradients and regionalization of the neocortex and their likely consequences for functional organization

Friday, October 26, 8:30 – 9:30 am, Kursaal Auditorium

Barb Finlay is a Professor of Psychology at Cornell University. Professor Finlay holds the William R. Kenan Chair of Psychology and is co-Editor of Brain and Behavioral Sciences. Finlay is an expert on the evolution and development of sensory systems and the cerebral cortex.

Nikos K. Logothetis

In vivo Connectivity: Paramagnetic Tracers, Electrical Stimulation & Neural-Event Triggered fMRI

Saturday, October 27, 8:30 – 9:30 am, Kursaal Auditorium

Nikos Logothetis is the Director of the Department of Cognitive Processes at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tubingen, Germany. Logothetis is well known for his studies of the physiological mechanisms underlying visual perception and object recognition as well as his more recent work on measurements of how the functional magnetic resonance imaging signal relate to neural activity.

Panel Discussions

Nina F. Dronkers vs Julius Fridriksson

What is the role of the insula in speech and language?

Friday, October 26, 5:20 – 6:50 pm

Nina Dronkers is the Director of the Center for Aphasia and Related Disorders as well as an Adjunct Professor of Neurology and Language at the University of California, Davis. Dronkers is an expert in the aphasia and, more generally, the cerebral localization of language.

Julius Fridriksson is a Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of South Carolina. Fridriksson is well known for his work in aphasia-neuroimaging and treatment.

Matthew Lambon Ralph vs Jeffrey R. Binder

Role of Angular Gyrus in Semantic Processing

Saturday, October 27 from 5:50 – 7:20 pm

Matt Lambon Ralph is a Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and Associate Vice-President of Research at the University of Manchester, U.K. His lab uses neuropsychology, computational modeling, TMS, and functional neuroimaging to investigate semantic memory, language, recovery, rehabilitation, and neuroplasticity.

Jeffrey Binder, M.D. is a Professor of Neurology at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Director of the Language Imaging Laboratory. Professor Binder has made important contributions on the neural basis of language, especially speech and word recognition. Binder is the incoming president of SNL.