No abstract

No abstract

During the last 20 years, new data on the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying different types of cognitive activity, especially speech and its ontogenetic formation, were obtained in the Laboratory of Children's Neurophysiology headed by Prof. M.N. Tsitseroshin. Using the analysis of the spatial-temporal structure of regional interactions of cortical bioelectric potentials (so-called functional connectivity), we investigated how specific language levels, such as phonology, grammar, and semantics, are represented in the brain. The data obtained in children vs. adults indicate that the speech perception and production require joint and extremely coordinated activities of both hemispheres, along with the obligatory and differentiated involvement of "classic" speech centers in the left hemisphere, especially Wernicke's area. Another line of our research is to explore the differences, which arise during verbal processing in adults and children with impaired vs. non-impaired speech, particularly with alalia, dysarthria and stuttering, using behavioral and EEG data. Our data obtained in children vs. adults allow assessing the degree of maturity in the organization of the central processes of maintaining the studied types of verbal activity in children of different ages. These data allow expanding modern concepts about the brain mechanisms of verbal activity in children in the norm and pathology.

The summer school on Pitch, Music and Associated Pathologies was held for 2½ days, July 9–11, 2014, at the Valpré conference center in Lyon. Fifty-five researchers and students from universities and research institutions from 11 countries participated in it. The summer school was organized in 2 larger sessions: One dealing with pitch and associated pathologies and covering topics from general pitch processing to various topics of pitch processing with cochlear implants. The other session dealt with music and associated pathologies, covering topics from congenital amusia to music processing in cochlear implants. Altogether, the organizers brought together 11 speakers covering these yet connected topics. The goal of this summer school was not only to pass on knowledge but also to connect young scientists with each other and with established researchers in this field in the hope of fostering new collaborations and networks. To facilitate this, the attendants were given the chance to present their own research in the form of a poster. Twenty-five posters were presented in the summer school, and the students were given numerous chances to discuss their own research with the speakers.

No abstract