The Language Neuroscience Podcast

In this episode, I talk with Nina Kazanina and Alexis Hervais-Adelman, both at the University of Geneva, about the science behind the upcoming SNL 2026 meeting in Geneva, and the evolutionary and cross-species perspective that the NCCR Evolving Language consortium brings to it. We discuss Nina’s argument that the neural ingredients for a “language of thought” are already available in the spatial navigation system of the rodent brain, and Alexis’s proposal that vocal communication came to domi...

In this episode, I talk with Michael Alley, Engineering Communications Teaching Professor in the Penn State College of Engineering about his radical approach to better scientific presentations. Alley M. The craft of scientific presentations: Critical steps to succeed and critical errors to avoid. Springer, 2013. [doi] Garner JK, Alley M. How the design of presentation slides affects audience comprehension: A case for the assertion-evidence approach. Int J Eng Educ 2013; 26: 1564-79. [pdf] Wil...

In this episode, I talk with Valentina Borghesani and Ryan Law from the SNL Program Committee about their exciting plans for the 2026 conference in Geneva, Switzerland. SNL 2026

In this epidode, I talk with Ellen Bialystok, Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology at York University, about her case for the “bilingual advantage”, or to be more precise, the case that growing up in a bilingual environment reconfigures mind and brain for adaptability, effiency, and resiliance. Bialystok E, Craik FIM, Klein R, Viswanathan M. Bilingualism, aging, and cognitive control: Evidence from the Simon task. Psychol Aging 2004; 19: 290-303. [doi] Bialystok E, Craik FIM, Freedm...

In this epidode, I talk with Greg Hickok, Distinguished Professor of Cognitive Sciences & Language Science at the University of California, Irvine, about his new book ‘Wired for words: the neural architecture of language’. Hickok G. Wired for words: The neural architecture of language. 2025; MIT Press. Key Hickok papers: Hickok G, Poeppel D. The cortical organization of speech processing. Nat Rev Neurosci 2007; 8: 393-402. [doi] Hickok G. Computational neuroanatomy of speech pro...