Lecturers and Talks

Day 1: June 22, Thursday

Nina Dronkers
VA Northern California Health Care System   ;  University of California, Davis, CA, USA; Center for Language and Brain, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia

Language and the brain: Past and present approaches. Past approaches to the study of language and the brain have focused largely on the contributions of Broca's and Wernicke's areas. Advanced neuroimaging techniques have now taught us that language is a complex system that requires an extensive and interactive network of brain regions and their connecting fiber pathways to sustain it. This information has advanced our understanding of how the brain processes language and invites future investigations to explore additional novel approaches.

Neural correlates of aphasia. Aphasia is a disorder of core language functions that occurs after an injury to the brain. In this lecture, we will discuss the different types of aphasia and the parts of the brain that are affected in each type. Videos will accompany the lectures to illustrate the deficits we will be discussing. 

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Matteo Feurra
Center for Cognition and Decision Making, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia 

Day 2: June 23, Friday

Maria Nazarova
School of Psychology, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia; Research Center of Neurology, Moscow, Russia

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Dmitry Kopachev
N. N. Burdenko Scientific Research Neurosurgery Institute, Moscow, Russia

Introduction to intraoperative direct electrical stimulation (DES)

(abstract to be posted later)

Day 3: June 24, Saturday

Dirk-Bart den Ouden
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina, Columbia SC, USA

Brain stimulation in speech research. Renewed interest and technological developments in brain stimulation have ignited new research programs in many different aspects of cognition and motor functions. This lecture will focus on the application of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to research questions in the domain of speech motor control. Detailed contemporary models of speech production and processing include proposed neural correlates of functional modules. The ability to selectively modulate functions that are critical to speech production and processing offers exciting opportunities for testing model-driven hypotheses and learn more about speech motor control. We will address brain stimulation applications to research in stuttering, pitch control, and apraxia of speech.

Brain stimulation in aphasia rehabilitation. Brain stimulation to enhance, entrain, or suppress specific neural functioning may be used to target neurogenic disorders at their neurophysiological source, complementing or in combination with behavioral interventions. This lecture will provide an overview of brain stimulation studies to enhance treatment outcomes in aphasia rehabilitation. We will address research methodology, past studies, and practical issues, as well as potential advances and pitfalls.

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Svetlana Malyutina
Center for Language and Brain, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia

Brain stimulation studies of language processing in the healthy brain. Brain stimulation methods have been applied not only in clinical populations but also in the healthy control population. The purposes of such studies are three-fold: to investigate the architecture of language processing in the healthy brain, to explore the potential of cognitive enhancement in the healthy population, and to inform further clinical applications of brain stimulation in language disorders. This lecture will provide an overview of recent findings in these areas. We will also discuss recent experiments and reviews with null results and critical conclusions about the efficacy of brain stimulation to modulate language processing.

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Roelien Bastiaanse
Center for Language and Cognition, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands

Presurgical language mapping with nTMS. Low grade gliomas are slowly growing brain tumors that infiltrate cortical and subcortical tissue. If they are located in presumed language areas, so-called awake surgery is often applied. During resection the patient is awake and his language is constantly monitored; in critical areas, Direct Electrical Stimulation is used: the patient is, for example, naming pictures or repeating words and electrical stimulation (around 4 seconds) of the tissue blocks language processing. So, if a patient cannot name a picture or repeat a word, the stimulated area is critical for language. This procedure is very stressful for both the patient and the neurosurgeon. Navigated Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (nTMS) is a technique that can temporally (for a few seconds) block functioning of a cortical area through the skull. This means that the cortical language areas can be located before surgery and the time that the patients needs to be awake during surgery can be shortened considerably. nTMS to locate language areas is still in its infancy. For the current project, a collaboration between the neurolinguistics research group of the University of Groningen, The University Medical Center Groningen and Eemagine Berlin, a protocol is developed to optimize this procedure by designing the right language tasks and the best stimulation design.