Neural bases of speech and language

Overview and organization of the course

Linmin Zhang

Sept. 2, 2024

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Welcome to Neural bases of speech and language

Instructor: Linmin Zhang (Email: [email protected])

Two in-person lectures every week:
▸ Times: 9/2/2024 – 12/13/2024, MoWe, 2:15 PM – 3:30 PM
(see the course syllabus for weekly arrangements)
▸ Location: 567 W Yangsi Rd., Rm EB226
Office hours: MoWe 10:00 am – 11:00 am (Rm S710, in person), or
by appointment (Zoom is also possible:
https://nyu.zoom.us/j/6981149064)
Syllabus, slides, and assignments:
https://brightspace.nyu.edu/d2l/home/394982
▸ Slides will be uploaded before each lecture.

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(Teaching assistant)

(Teaching assistant: Xinjing Li, [email protected])

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Recommended textbook
Cognitive Neuroscience of Language, by David Kemmerer

1st edition 2nd edition

Where to get textbooks: Amazon, Alibris, BookFinder.com, etc.
Electronic version:
▸ 1st edition: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315764061
▸ 2nd edition: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781138318427
(Other relevant reading materials will be posted on Brightspace.)
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How this course fits into your studies

‘Neural bases of speech language’ is included in

▸ ‘Science, Technology, & Society’ core curriculum;
▸ Neural Science Electives;

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Prerequisites

None. No background is presupposed.

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Workload

Participation: 10%
▸ 5% for attendance, and 5% for actively participating in class
discussions.
Writing: 10%
Quizzes: 5% × 8 = 40%
Midterm: 20%
Final: 20%

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Workload: Writing

You will choose a research topic we have discussed in the course

and raise a new, relevant research question for further
investigation.
This writing homework assignment can be done individually or in
a small group.
Please schedule an appointment with me first to have a
discussion, and then work on this writing project.
Details and the timeline will be announced later.

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Workload: Quizzes

There will be 10 quizzes through out the semester.

Quizzes are in the format of yes/no and/or multiple choice
questions and will be set up on Brightspace.
For each student, the two lowest scores from the 10 quizzes will be
dropped in computing the final grade.

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Workload: Midterm and final

Midterm:
▸ Date: Oct. 23, Wed. Please plan around it.
▸ Format: some short-answer questions.
▸ The test will be in-class and open-book.
▸ There will be no make-up exams.
Final:
▸ Date: Dec. 11, Wed. Please plan around it.
▸ Format: some short-answer questions.
▸ The test will be in-class and open-book.
▸ There will be no make-up exams.

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Academic honesty: Examples of cheating

Cheating may cost you your grade.

Examples of cheating:
▸ Collaborating on homework (recommended procedure is ‘in your
room alone’)
▸ Copying another student’s work with or without that student’s
knowledge
▸ ...

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Academic honesty: Consequences of cheating

Consequences of cheating:
▸ You will fail any homework on which you have cheated.
▸ You will fail the course and be reported if you cheat repeatedly or if
you cheat on a test.
Carefully read NYUSH’s Statement on Academic Integrity (in the
Undergraduate Bulletin):
https://shanghai.nyu.edu/content/academic-integrity. Breaches
of academic integrity could result in failure of an assignment,
failure of the course, or other sanctions, as determined by the
Academic Affairs office.

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Grade calculation

You will receive number grades for quizzes (on a 5 pt. scale),
writing (on a 10 pt. scale), and tests (on a 20 pt. scale).
I will give a letter grade at the middle/end of the semester.
Your homework and test grades will be posted on Brightspace, so
you can track your progress there.
Grade calculation scale:
A 95–100% B 83–86% C 73–76% D 63–66%
A- 90–94% B- 80–82% C- 70–72% D- 60–62%
B+ 87–89% C+ 77–79% D+ 67–69% F 0–59%

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Attendance policy

You are expected to attend all scheduled classes.

See the syllabus for details on absence exceptions.

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In class

Computer/ipad use, texting, snacks and drinks are explicitly OK

in class as long as they don’t disturb classmates.
▸ No aromatic foods.
▸ No unrelated computer use (be considerate of people sitting behind
you).

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Personal situations

If you have a diagnosed disability that requires special

accommodations, please talk to us. We’ll do what we can to
accommodate you.
If anything arises that may affect your classroom performance,
please talk to us ASAP.
▸ Don’t wait until the end of the semester, or we won’t be able to help
you.
If something prevents you from continuing your studies for a long
time, you should also talk to the Dean of Students.

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What will we talk about in this course?
Language is uniquely human, at
least in the sense of our being
able to talk not just about the
here and now but about the
abstract, the complex, the
future, and the hypothetical.
Language is also uniquely
difficult to study; there are no
direct animal models (though
birdsong can be informative),
and sharp ethical limits
constrain what techniques can
be used. If most work in
neuroscience is on vision and
motor control, it’s partly
because those areas of the mind
are more easy to study.
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What will we talk about in this course?

What is language?
Two meanings of English word language:
▸ as a social construction (e.g., English, Chinese) – what French word
langue means
▸ as a cognitive ability, a human-specific intuition – what French
word langage means

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What will we talk about in this course?

What is neurolinguistics?
▸ A subfield of linguistics – the study of human language intuition
▸ Neuroscience – mechanisms of the nervous system
Cognitive neuroscience – neural bases of cognition
Neurolinguistics – neural bases of human language intuition

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What does human language intuition include?

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Readings for next time

Poepple, David. 2015. The neurobiology of language. In The future

of the brain. (about 10 pages)
Carandini, Matteo. 2015 From circuits to behavior: A bridge too
far? In The future of the brain. (about 9 pages)
Optional: Marr, David. 1982. Vision: Chapter 7. (about 27 pages)

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 Any questions? ,

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