LINGUISTICS FOR DEAFNESS AND LANGUAGE AND LEARNING IMPAIRMENTS MOD.2

General contribution of the course

The course aims at providing theoretical experience concerning the functional basis and the neurobiology of language processing, through the study of acquired and developmental language disorders and of structural and functional neuroimaging.
The course aims at the acquisition of the basic skills that are required to comprehend the results of scientific experiments and the clinical activity in the field of neurolinguistics.

Basic knowledge is required concerning General linguistics and Generative linguistics.

Introduction:
• Introduction to neurolinguistics.
• History of the mind-brain relationship (and language-brain in particular);
• Functional anatomy of higher cortical functions and language

Methods in Neurolinguistics:
• Methods in cognitive neurolinguistics
• Methods in cognitive neurosciences: foundations of structural and functional neuroimaging;

Language processing and its disorders after focal brain damage:
• Aphasia
• Models of lexical processing
• Acquired lexical impairments: category and grammatical class dissociations

Written language:
• Cognitive models of reading and acquired reading impairments;
• Cognitive models of writing and acquired writing impairments;

Developmental language impairments
• Specific language impairments
• Specific learning impairments (dyslexia);

Language modifications in aging and degenerative diseases:
• Language disorders in dementia

Psycholinguistics and Neuropsycholinguistics:
• Processing models of morphologically complex words (inflectional and derivational morphology;

Conclusion of the course

The final assessment consists of a written multiple-choice test as well as some short written questions concerning the topics of the course.
Due to the CoViD-19 emergency, the exams that are planned during the January 2021 session may be held in online oral modality.

Theoretical classes; listening to recordings, description of diagnostic materials and of tasks for the verification of the theoretical models under scrutiny.
Classes will be held in online modality.

Italian

written