Ponente invitad@: William Matchin. Re-evaluating the syntax-semantics distinction in the brain

What: Re-evaluating the syntax-semantics distinction in the brain

Where: Online talk; BCBL Auditorium Zoom room (If you would like to attend to this meeting reserve at info@bcbl.eu)

Who: William Matchin. PhD, Associate Professor, Dept. of Communication Sciences & Disorders, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, US

When:  Thursday,  Feb 12th at  02:00 PM.

Syntax, the hierarchical structure of sentences, and semantics, the meaning conveyed by language, have been described as two fundamentally distinct aspects of human language. Accordingly, early cognitive neuroscience research identified dissociations in the brain for these two dimensions of language. However, this distinction has been called into question in recent years. Some linguistic theories advocate for integration of lexical-semantics and syntax, while functional neuroimaging studies in healthy adults, bolstered by large language models, have revealed substantial overlap in the brain for these domains. One issue with this research is that syntax and semantics are tightly integrated and interactive, making it difficult to disentangle them in experimental work. In order to remedy this, stronger experimental designs which can disentangle these mechanisms are needed, along with methods which allow stronger inference such as lesion-symptom mapping. I will review several lines of research suggesting distinctions of syntax and semantics in the brain consistent with a dual-stream model approach that we have advocated in recent years. Ultimately, addressing this question requires deeper integration among linguistics, aphasiology, and neuroscience.