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Department of Neuropsychology

The Department’s research agenda is to identify the functional architecture of language and its neuroanatomical basis in the mature and the developing brain.

The approach of the Neuropsychology Department is interdisciplinary, using different methods for analyzing brain activity and anatomical structure. To identify how brain activity during language processing unfolds in time, we mainly use magnetoencephalographic (MEG) and electroencephalographic (EEG) measurements as well as behavioural measures to identify the temporal structure of brain activity during language processing. The combination of the former two methods with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), with its high spatial resolution, allows us to establish a coherent picture of the functional neuroanatomy of language processing in the human brain. In addition, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) analyses are used to gain insight into the structural connectivities underlying the neural network of language.

 

The team

 

News from the department

"Apes communicate, humans have language"
Angela D. Friederici, from the Max-Planck-Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS), together with colleagues from the MPI for Evolutionary Anthropology wants to figure out which brain structures and genes make the situation different for humans. In the following interview Friederici talks about why we still know so little about the differences between humans and apes – and why even the existing knowledge could be questioned by new findings. more
"I think he thinks that ..."
Anyone who investigates how children acquire language encounter the grammar centre of the brain. Angela D. Friederici during a conversation with Die ZEIT newspaper on universal grammar and the brain structures that enable us to process language. more
This 'brain podcast' with Angela D. Friederici on her book about language as a uniquely human capacity provides an excellent overview to listeners of all backgrounds. A conversation about the earliest knowledge acquired from patients with brain lesions, newer tools allow researchers to correlate concepts from Linguistics with the neuroscientific tools and an increasing interest in the connections between the various brain areas that are involved in language. more
Big Ideas in Cognitive Neuroscience
Professor Angela D. Friederici discusses the structures in the brain that make human language unique and possible.

March 25, 2017
Cognitive Neuroscience Society annual conference, San Francisco
3sat nano: "How to learn Language"
Over a period of several months a film crew recorded volunteers of the long-term study Second language acquisition hereat the Max Planck Institute. As a result, the short documentary was broadcast on 3sat nano on 19th January 2017 and can be viewed in German on the Mediathek.
Professor Angela D. Friederici as a guest in BR alpha forum
A conversation about the development of language during the course of our lives, her work as vice president of the Max Planck Society, and the value of basic research to uncover truly new findings.
The BR alpha forum invites outstanding personalities from the fields of politics and business, science and society, and culture and religion to engage in profound discussion, in which there is enough time for details and nuances and not only attention-grabbing quotes.

 

Latest press releases from the department

Core language network separated from other networks during primate evolution

The evolution of language in humans, in contrast to communicative systems in other primate species is hotly debated. Now, thanks to the study of brain connectivity between different primate species and by adopting a framework proposed for segregating functional language and communication activation in humans, Angela Friederici and Yannick Becker from MPI CBS argue in a recent correspondence article in Nature Reviews Neuroscience that the core language network can be neurally separated from other communication-relevant networks during primate evolution.
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Connections in the chimpanzee brain made visible

The question of how the human brain has developed over the course of evolution can possibly only be answered through comparisons with our closest living relatives, the chimpanzees. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, together with colleagues from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and the Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, have now presented a freely accessible map of high-resolution MRI data that shows the comprehensive brain structure of chimpanzees for the first time in a study published in the journal "Nature Methods".
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Babies form a memory for grammatical relationships - even without sleep

From an early age, children learn to name things and events, but also how to combine words according to the rules of their language. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS) Leipzig and the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin have now found that even six-month-old babies store relationships between speech elements in memory.
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How the mother's mood influences her baby's ability to speak

Communicating with babies in infant-directed-speech is considered an essential prerequisite for successful language development of the little ones. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences have now investigated how the mood of mothers in the postpartum period affects their child’s development. They found that even children whose mothers suffer from mild depressive mood that do not yet require medical treatment show early signs of delayed language development. The reason for this could be the way the women talk to the newborns. The findings could help prevent potential deficits early on. more

Chimpanzees combine calls to form numerous vocal sequences

Evidence of structured vocal sequences in wild chimpanzee communication provides insights into human language evolution more

How Fingers and Brains Coordinate When Making Music

The Max-Planck-Gesellschaft honours young scientists and researchers each year with the Otto Hahn Medal for outstanding scientific achievements. This year, Stephanie Theves and Matthias Nau from the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS) won two of the coveted awards. more

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