Neurolinguistics

RESUMO
Este artigo objetiva discutir criticamente a avaliação de linguagem na Demência de Alzheimer (DA). Instrumentos de avaliação neuropsicológica geralmente apresentam alguns testes como sendo “de linguagem” e seus resultados buscam confirmar o diagnóstico ou avaliar a progressão da doença. Buscamos apontar, por meio de análises qualitativas, à luz da Neurolingüística Discursiva, que os episódios dialógicos que ocorrem durante a anamnese ou ao longo das sessões de testes podem levar a uma melhor compreensão de como a linguagem encontra-se (ou não) alterada nos casos em que há uma provável DA.

ABSTRACT
This paper aims to discuss language evaluation in the Alzheimer disease (AD). Neuropsychological assessment tests usually present some of them as being “language evaluation” and the results aim to confirm the diagnosis or to evaluate the disease progression. We intend to show, by means of qualitative approach, oriented by the Discursive Neurolinguistics, that the dialogical episodes that take place during the interviews and tests sessions could lead to a better comprehension of how language is altered (or not) in probable cases of AD.

Within the alternative concepts of “twosystem” and “singlesystem” language models, brain mechanisms for the generation of regular and irregular forms of Russian verbs have been studied. The evoked EEG activity was recorded in 19 channels with random alternation of different speechmorphology opera tions. The infinitives of imperfective verbs that belong either to the productive group (conventionally, the default, or regular, class) or to the unproductive group (conventionally, the irregular class) were presented to healthy subjects. The subjects were to produce the firstperson presenttime forms of these verbs. The results of the analysis of the eventrelated potentials (ERPs) of 22 subjects are presented. Statistically valid ERP amplitude distinctions between the verb groups are found only in latencies of 600–850 ms in the central and parietal zones of the cortex. The peak values of the irregularverb potentials are negative in this region in rela tion to the peak values of the regularverb potentials. The findings are interpreted as the effect of various com plexities of mental work with verbs of different groups and do not support the hypothesis of the universality of the twosystem brain mechanism for processing regular and irregular language phenomena.

Reading words in a native language triggers a largely obligatory cognitive process that we accept as leading to comprehension of the word-we cannot suppress our understanding of word meaning. In this study, we investigated the early stages of this comprehension process by means of event-related potentials (ERPs) to identify when this processing of meaning-that is, semantic processing-first occurs. We report that, when processing visually presented compound words, semantic access at some level occurs as early as the P100 and persists through to the N400. Specifically, we focused on the P100 ERP component, and utilized the unique features of compound words (i.e. variation in the transparency of meaning) to investigate the speed with which we gain access to information about meaning (i.e. semantic access). Twenty-two participants performed a lexical decision task including 40 English compounds, which varied with respect to their constituent semantic transparency. Compounds ranged from ...

In the modern era, many methods for the instruction of language principles and skills have been proposed, developed, and implemented to assist language learners with their advancement. In this paper, the unique concept of formulaic sequences is presented and examined to demonstrate its practical utility for instruction and furtherance of the skills of English language learners in the classroom. This language concept, while relatively novel and currently underutilized within contemporary instructional situations, has the capacity to provide a clear and engaging framework to accelerate language learning, and qualify students to an exceptional level. The idea has gained considerable momentum as studies in linguistics, neuroscience, and psychology have contributed to its recognition as a logical and legitimate base from which to bolster the development of new and sensible methods for students. A presentation of the history and theories underlying the concept of formulaic sequences is provided, along with a practical component and suggestions for its use in the instructional context.

La investigación experimental de las últimas décadas ha ido revelando aspectos de la naturaleza neurocognitiva de la sintaxis, algunos de los cuales se recogen y discuten en este capítulo. La selección de temas, resultados e interpretación de la evidencia se ha hecho teniendo en cuenta principalmente la perspectiva de la teoría lingüística, y por ello haré más hincapié en la relevancia de algunos resultados obtenidos por la investigación en neurocognición del lenguaje sobre la sintaxis, que en los aspectos metodológicos relacionados con las técnicas de neuroimagen y el diseño experimental que se utilizan en estos trabajos. Intentaré ofrecer una visión de algunas de las contribuciones que considero más significativas en el estudio de la neurocognición de la sintaxis, visión que será necesariamente parcial e incompleta, dado el enorme número y disparidad de contribuciones que se publican actualmente en este campo. Para una presentación y defensa de la lingüística generativa dentro de la neurociencia cognitiva del lenguaje, léase Marantz (2005); para discusiones más detalladas sobre sintaxis donde se discuten también métodos y sus características, léanse Embick y Poeppel (2005), Grodzinsky y Friederici (2006) y las numerosas referencias citadas en estos trabajos.

by Joanna Moura

The purpοse οf this study is tο map the prοfile οf patients with aphasia in the οral language areas by analyzing the types of paraphasia. Specifically, the speech samples were acquired from the Greek Corpus of Aphasic Discourse, which consists of examination interviews in aphasic patients. All the interviews took place at Athens Eginition Hospital. Of these samples 26 were annotated and transcribed. The interview techniques were based on the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination, while the annotation and transcription follow text linguistics conventions. Paraphasias concerning all levels of linguistic analysis in the interviews were identified. The study aims at analyzing and assessing paraphasias of speech of aphasic patients.

Статья посвящена нейропсихологическому подходу к исследо-
ванию фонематического слуха и выполнена на материале работ основателя отечественной нейропсихологии А. Р. Лурии. Для анализа привлекаются как классические, широко известные работы ученого, так и неопубликованные архивные материалы. Нарушения фонематического слуха рассматриваются
А. Р. Лурией как основной механизм сенсорной (акустико-гностической) афазии у взрослых больных с локальными поражениями мозга. Статья поднимает вопросы определения А. Р. Лурией с позиций афазиологии понятий фонемы, фонематического слуха, звукового анализа. Отдельно обсуждается роль мо-
торики в фонемном восприятии. Описываются методы нейропсихологической диагностики фонематических нарушений. К обсуждению привлекаются также и те работы А. Р. Лурии, в которых автор, целенаправленно не исследовавший фонематический слух в детском возрасте, так или иначе обращается к этому
вопросу.

The article deals with the historical development of the field of neurolinguistics. It provides a chronological survey of inquiry into the relationship between the language faculty and the human nervous system, beginning with the first such investigations in ancient Egypt and ancient Greece. Up to the nineteenth century, most records were single case descriptions of the effects of brain lesions on the language faculty, and the most notable of these are presented in this paper. Some influential attempts were made in the nineteenth century to localize the language faculty in the brain, such as those of Franz J. Gall, Paul Broca, and Carl Wernicke. The twentieth century saw an explosion in the number of theories and experimental methods for investigating the relationship between language and the nervous system, along with the birth of neurolinguistics in the strict sense as an interdisciplinary field of scientific inquiry borne from linguistics and neuroscience in the 1960s.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) sufferers rank second highest in Indonesia. Treatment of tuberculosis that is lived for 6 months will cause physiological, psychological, and social problems for the client. Initially there is a disruption in body image which in turn will affect other aspects of self-concept and cause anxiety so that it can affect interpersonal relationships with others. Aim: This study was conducted to determine the effect of therapeutic communication nurses through selfconcept of anxiety in TB patients Methods: This study was a descriptive study with a cross sectional approach involving 24 TB patients with a selection of Stratified Random Sampling techniques. The instrument used in the form of a questionnaire which was then analyzed by the Path Analysis test significance level p <0.05 Result: Path analysis test results obtained the effect of therapeutic communication on the self concept of 0.000, the effect of communication on anxiety 0.000, and the effect of therapeutic communication on self-concept towards anxiety of TB patients 0.015, therapeutic communication through self-concept indirectly affects the anxiety of TB patients with total values 1,742. Conclusion: Based on the results of the analysis test, data obtained that nurse therapeutic communication through the patient's self concept affects the level of anxiety of TB patients on the condition experienced.

Resumo
Este artigo apresenta parte do trajeto histórico da Neurolingüística Discursiva, retomando conceitos e práticas que articulam discurso com atividade constitutiva, cérebro com linguagem/trabalho. Os dados de linguagem produzidos em meio à visão discursiva e à reflexão acerca da afasia possibilitam por em destaque processos de significação que se interpõem na impossibilidade de dizer por meio de arranjos que selecionam e combinam palavras, o que faz fluir o discurso. Os dados mostram que sujeitos afásicos não dispõem, como antes, dos recursos expressivos para significar, mas experimentam na interlocução outros processos de significação que ajudam na tradução intra e inter-semiótica.

ABSTRAC
This paper shows part of the historical course of Discursive Neurolinguistics, retaking concepts and practices that articulate discourse with constitutive activity, brain with language and work. A discursive point of view enabled us to show up specific processes in aphasic language that affect the speech flow. The data show that aphasics subjects do not have, as before, the expressive resources to mean, but use other ways and the experience in other processes to help them in the translation meaning intra-and inter-semiotics.

We further develop the self-centered model of mental representations for language with the focus on the mechanisms underlying syntactic calculus and the construction of larger meaningful constructs out of the basic syntactic units. We consider the inborn multimodal perception and  the self-concept as an actor in an environment as the basis for concept formation and syntactic construction. Based on relevant findings in language acquisition, we investigate the perceptual, semantic, and syntactic aspects of mental apparatus. We see this apparatus as an overall system that can handle the task of conceptualization and the task of syntactic construction using the same mechanisms. Based on the argument-centered model of mental representations which involves such processing homogeneity, we show the gradual development of the complexity of syntactic formants during language acquisition.

Keywords: language acquisition, syntax complexity, mental operations
ACM classification keywords: I.2.0: Artificial Intelligence, I.2.7: Natural Language Processing

RD HOBBS reviews "Talking Hands" by Margalit Fox.
Fox, M. (2007). Talking hands; What Sign Language Reveals About the Mind. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
A team of researchers descend on a village in southern Israel where a Bedouin tribe has 4% deaf population because of the custom of cousins marrying one another. The "organically grown" language of the deaf is an opportunity for linguists to study are relatively new language that should give clues as to how languages come to be. Half of the book is devoted as a narrative of the linguists visiting, recording, photographing, and filming families in their homes, and the other half of the book as intermittent chapters discuss language, linguistics, language in the brain, grammar, and language evolution. Comparisons are drawn between Sign languages, sign language communities, grammars, and more.

RD Hobbs Book Review
Fox, M. (2007). Talking Hands. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
A team of researchers descend on a village in Southern Israel inhabited by a Bedouin tribe with 4% deaf population due to cousins marrying. The normal statistic for deaf population is one out of 1,000 to one out of 10,000, not four out of 100. Having deaf family members in the village is normal. Deaf children do not grow up in isolation. As a result, a deaf language organically evolved. The more dependable way of observing the evolved language is to observe a deaf child with his hearing sibling. The reason is that deaf children go to school and learn Israeli Sign language. So, when two deaf children get together from the village, their sign language will be mixed with Village sign and Israeli sign. Hearing children learn Village sign from deaf relatives at home and not in school, so they are unfamiliar with Israeli sign language. Chapters in Fox (2007) alternate between observations of Village Bedouins using Village sign and chapters on language and linguistics. The author tells of a Dublin School for the deaf that segregate boys from girls. As a result of the segregation, 70% of the signs are different. The authors explain that before Sandinistas taking power, deaf children grew up in isolation, so they were language impaired for the rest of their lives - having missed the threshold of time to learn a language. After the Sandinistas took power, education improved and deaf children attended school. Linguists report that the older children in the first cohort never learned Nicaragua Sign Language (NSL) adequately, but in the second cohort, children under age 7 enriched the rudimentary "language" they were given to create a bonafide language. Researchers were informed by other examples of Sign language. Thus, Fox (2007) takes on the roles of neurolinguists and psycholinguists in that they explain language in the brain, but also sociolinguists in that they explain deaf language in society as well as in culture and sub-cultures.

Historically, the idea of the sublime is often associated with grand and astounding natural scenery. This thesis investigates a twenty-first century idea of the sublime that includes dissonant phenomena such as ecosystem disruption and climate change. The subject of the sublime is symbolic of how unprepared the general audience is for dealing with the inherent disorders that arise when confronted with ‘negative’ aesthetic engagement. Landscape design, however, can mediate this experience to facilitate a creative act of imagination and identification with contemporary sublime phenomena. This in turn provides an opportunity to speculate on a future landscape architectural repertoire.

This is the galley proof of part 1 of my 3 part PhD dissertation.
It is published in an edited volume with Transcript Verlag. Page numbers may vary to the finished publication. To support the author(s), you can find the book digitally or as a hardcover under:
https://www.transcript-verlag.de/978-3-8376-5278-9/die-emotionalisierung-des-politischen/

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To the surprise of many and despite Hillary R. Clinton being the
clear favorite to win the 2016 U.S. election, Donald J. Trump
won the race for the Republican party. Trump’s campaign was
defined by “nationalistic” and “populist” narratives, following
a strategy of political marketing which was designed to
emotionalize the political discourse, in a quality usually
reserved for autocratic regimes (cf. Gillies 2018: 2). In this partsociological,
part-media communication and partneuroscientific
study I will be focusing on each candidate’s
argumentative structure as well as their employment of three
key emotional stimuli (sex, fear and violence) throughout their
public speeches, interviews and debates. The method applied
will be a qualitative discourse analysis based on the Pragmatic
Sociology of Critique (PSC) according to Boltanski and
Thévenot and will be further developed into a critical media
analysis method, serving as a flexible framework for analyzing
emotionalized political media content. By sociologically
examining the occurrence of these key emotional stimuli in
combination with (political) arguments, the study is
introducing established neuroscientific theories (regarding the
role of emotions within human attention- and memoryprocesses)
into the realm of media and communication
research. I strive to identify each campaign’s distinctive
argumentative pattern as well as to highlight the importance
of emotional stimuli within (political) communication and
especially populism. The general goal of the paper will be to
develop and introduce a neopragmatist method for media
research using the example of the 2016 U.S. electoral
communication. Additionally, the differences between
‘populist’ and ‘regular’ communication shall be discussed.

La Neurolinguistique Générale est sensée correspondre à la révision majeure de la Sémantique Générale qu'Alfred Korzybski a mentionnée à de nombreuses reprises comme devant se produire dans les 25 ans suivant sa disparition (1950), et qui en émerge naturellement lorsque la barrière mentale due à la certitude injustifiée que la réalité physique ne peut être confirmée avec certitude et ne peut être comprise objectivement est levée. Il est intéressant de noter que l'analyse menant à cette révision particulière a débuté dans les années 1970, c'est-à-dire dans le délai prévu par Korzybski, même si elle n'a pu être pleinement documentée et reliée à l'ensemble des références formelles requises que beaucoup plus tard, en raison du temps qu'il a fallu pour identifier, localiser et corréler chaque élément majeur de la solution pour aboutir à présente synthèse. Description sommaire de la Neurolinguistique Générale suivie d'une description sommaire de la Sémantique Générale qu'elle est sensée compléter. Analyse sommaire de l'influence de la motivation des individus, déterminée par leur sentiment d'insécurité et l'étendue de leurs bases de connaissances générales personnelles, dans l'établissement des structures sociales à travers l'histoire. Analyse sommaire des causes de la résistance historique de la communauté académique à l'introduction de nouveaux paradigmes fondateurs qui auraient pu être bénéfiques à la société. Identification de la relation entre l'étendue de la base de connaissances générales des individus et l'étendue du niveau de conscience sociale qui en résulte. Description sommaire du processus de compréhension et des propriétés du néocortex, dont l'utilisation coordonnée favorise l'acquisition de connaissances objectives.

Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo investigar a representação sintática do aspecto perfect. Assumiu-se a existência de tipos distintos de perfect: perfect universal / situação persistente, perfect existencial / resultativo, perfect existencial / experiencial e perfect existencial / passado recente. Para tanto, foi investigada uma possível perda linguística desse aspecto associado ao tempo presente em sujeitos portadores da Doença de Alzheimer, tanto na variante clássica (DA), quanto na variante frontal, conhecida como Afasia Progressiva Primária Logopênica (APPL). A metodologia elaborada para este trabalho consistiu na realização de um estudo duplo de caso, tendo participado uma paciente portadora da DA e outra da APPL, ambas falantes nativas do português do Brasil. Foram aplicados dois testes de funcionalidade, dois testes neuropsicológicos e dois testes linguísticos e foi realizada também uma análise de fala espontânea. Os resultados indicaram que ambas as pacientes apresentaram declínio funcional e comprometimento cognitivo, ainda que o déficit na paciente com DA fosse maior do que o da paciente com APPL. A análise referente à expressão linguística, resultante da comparação dos resultados dos dois testes linguísticos e da análise de fala espontânea, revelou que a paciente com DA apresentava um déficit que incide sobre os quatro tipos de perfect, tempo presente e aspecto imperfectivo, enquanto que a paciente com APPL apresentava um déficit que incide sobre perfect existencial / passado recente e tempo presente. Observou-se, então, que o perfect existencial / passado recente está dissociado na gramática mental, havendo um sintagma referente a esse conhecimento na representação sintática, o RecPerfP, que domina os demais sintagmas de perfect. Além disso, discutiu-se que TP encontra-se acima dos sintagmas de perfect na hierarquia sintática, ao passo que AspP encontra-se abaixo. Foi proposto, dessa forma, que a hierarquia entre sintagmas de perfect, tempo e aspecto perfectivo/imperfectivo na representação sintática seja a seguinte: TP > RecPerf > ExPerfP > UPerfP > ResPerfP > AspP. ////// Abstract: This research aims to investigate the syntactic representation of the perfect aspect. Different types of perfect were assumed to exist: universal perfect / persistent situation, existential perfect / resultative, existential perfect / experiential and existential perfect / recent past. Therefore, a possible linguistic impairment of this aspect associated with the present tense was investigated in subjects with Alzheimer's disease, both in the classic variant (AD) and in the frontal variant, known as Logopenic Primary Progressive Aphasia (LPPA). The methodology developed for this study consisted of a double case study, involving one patient with AD and one with LPPA, both Brazilian Portuguese native speakers. Two functionality tests, two neuropsychological tests and two language tests were applied and a spontaneous speech analysis was also performed. The results indicated that both patients presented functional decline and cognitive impairment, although the deficit in the AD patient was greater than that of the LPPA patient. The analysis of the linguistic expression, resulting from the comparison of the results of the two linguistic tests and the spontaneous speech analysis, revealed that the patient with AD presented a deficit that affects the four types of perfect, present tense and imperfective aspect, while the patient with LPPA had a deficit that affects existential perfect / recent past and present tense. It was observed, then, that the existential perfect / recent past is dissociated in mental grammar, and there is a phrase referring to this knowledge in syntactic representation, RecPerfP, which dominates the other perfect phrases. In addition, it has been argued that TP is above the perfect phrases in the syntactic hierarchy, whereas AspP is below. Thus, it was proposed that the hierarchy between perfect, tense and perfective / imperfective aspect phrases in syntactic representation is as follows: TP> RecPerf > ExPerfP > UPerfP > ResPerfP > AspP.