Third Annual DK+ “Imaging the Mind” Summer School

   Language and the social mind –
   From functional segregation to integration

University of Salzburg
24th – 26th September 2014

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This summer school will provide young researchers with primary sources of information on various perspectives of the human mind relevant to the Doctoral Programme “Imaging the Mind” of the University of Salzburg. Participants will gain valuable theoretical and practical experience through a series of lectures and workshops, including hands-on training.
The covered topics will range from language processing to social and affective neuroscience using behavioral, EEG/MEG and fMRI methodology. In addition to functional segregation students will be trained in brain connectivity methods that allow to focus on the interplay of different brain areas (functional integration) during cognitive processing.

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Summer School Location

Dax Lueg
Daxluegstrasse 5
5300 Hallwang – Austria

Information and Contact

Frau Mag. Astrid Sattler
Phone: +43 662 8044 – 5105
E-Mail:

Schedule

until 9:15	Arrival of participants
9:30 – 10:00	Opening of the summer school by Josef Perner
10:00 – 11:15	Eddie Harmon-Jones
11:15 – 11:30	Coffee break
11:30 – 13:00	Eddie Harmon-Jones
13:00 – 14:30	Lunch
14:30 – 16:30	Tim Mullen
16:30 – 17:00	Coffee break (incl. cake)
17:00 – 19:00	Tim Mullen
19:00	Dinner

09:00 -10:30	Fumiko Hoeft
10:30 – 11:00	Coffee break
11:00 – 12:30	Fumiko Hoeft
12:30 – 14:30	Lunch
14:30 – 16:00	Rebecca Saxe
16:00 – 16:30	Coffee break (incl. cake)
16:30 – 18:00	Rebecca Saxe
18:00	Dinner

09:00 – 10:30	Marcel Bastiaansen
10:30 – 11:00	Coffee break
11:00 – 12:30	Marcel Bastiaansen
12:30	Closing
12:45	Lunch

Lectures and workshops will be provided by

Marcel Bastiaansen (CV)  
NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences, Breda, the Netherlands
Title: Oscillatory neuronal dynamics in the brain’s language network
Abstract: Oscillatory dynamics in scalp EEG and MEG are thought to (at least partially) reflect the underlying dynamics of the coupling and uncoupling of functional neuronal networks that carry cognitive processes. I will first delineate an analytical framework for studying network dynamics by means of time-frequwency decompositions of EEG and MEG signals. I will then selectively review recent literature that addresses the oscillatory dynamics that can be observed during various aspects of language comprehension.
For instance, there is evidence that low-frequency oscillatory dynamics (theta-band power changes) are related to lexical retrieval, whereas high-frequency dynamics (beta / gamma power and coherence changes) are related to sentence-level integration (unification) of the individual lexical items. I will then briefly report on recent efforts to identify the oscillatory dynamics involved in turn-taking in conversations. Finally, to illustrate how the study of oscillatory dynamics can support and complement ERP research, I  will report on work that addresses the context-dependency of semantic retrieval, using Dutch idiomatic expressions as a tool.
Recommended reading:
Bastiaansen, M. C. M., Mazaheri, A., & Jensen, O. (2012). Beyond ERPs: Oscillatory neuronal dynamics. In S. J. Luck, & E. S. Kappenman (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of event-related potential components (pp. 31-50). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Wang, L., Zhu, Z., & Bastiaansen, M. C. M. (2012). Integration or predictability? A further specification of the functional role of gamma oscillations in language comprehension. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 187.
Rommers, J., Dijkstra, T., & Bastiaansen, M. C. M. (2013). Context-dependent semantic processing in the human brain: Evidence from idiom comprehension. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 25(5), 762-776.
Weiss, S., & Mueller, H. M. (2012). “Too many betas do not spoil the broth”: the role of beta brain oscillations in language processing. Frontiers in psychology, 3.

Eddie Harmon-Jones (CV)  
The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Title: Advances in understanding emotional and motivational processes gained from social-affective neuroscience
Abstract: I will present theory and evidence that challenges two widely held assumptions in contemporary approaches to the study of emotion. The first assumption is that approach motivation is always associated with positive affect. The second assumption is that positive affective states create attentional and cognitive broadening. Employing both trait and state designs with measurements of electrical brain activity, subjective reports, and behavioural responses, our research has found that approach motivation may be associated with certain negative affective states, particularly anger, and that positive affective states can create attentional and cognitive broadening or narrowing depending on the approach motivational character associated with the positive affect state. In the end, I will suggest that considering the motivational direction dimension as separate from the affective valence dimension will assist in further understanding the relationships between emotions, physiological responses, attention, cognition, and behaviour.

Fumiko Hoeft (CV)  
University of California San Francisco, USA
Title: Translational potential of neuroimaging to practice: Taking dyslexia as an example
Abstract: In this talk, I will take dyslexia as an example and give several examples that point to the translational potential of neuroimaging in clinical and educational practice.  Such examples include: 1) studies that provide neuroscientific information critical in the identification and diagnosis of children for certain needs and with disorders, 2) studies that show predictive value of neuroimaging in the prognosis and educational outcome of children, 3) how learning from atypical cases can provide critical information that may be uses to develop instructional and interventional strategies, and 4) construction and utility of developmental growth charts.

Tim Mullen (CV)  
University of California San Diego, USA
Title: The Dynamic Brain: Modeling Neural Dynamics and Interactions from M/EEG
Abstract: A significant challenge in contemporary neuroscience lies in modeling the temporal dynamics of frequency-dependent cortical interactions posited to play critical roles in cognitive state maintenance, information processing and motor control. The first part of this lecture will survey contemporary computational approaches for analyzing oscillatory system dynamics and synchronization/information flow (functional and effective connectivity) in electrophysiological time-series data including the basic theory and practical issues surrounding estimation of functional connectivity measures, such as coherence, phase-locking value, and phase-amplitude coupling, as well as Granger causality and related effective connectivity measures. I will discuss important theoretical and practical issues such as the use of channel versus source-reconstructed data, bivariate versus multivariate methods, and the use of priors and constraints, such as smoothness and sparsity, in improving dynamical system identification. I will demonstrate recent work by our center applying these methods in studies of cognitive information processing, seizure dynamics, and brain-computer interfaces using scalp EEG and intracranial EEG (ECoG). In the second part of the lecture, I will present an overview and practicum of the Source Information Flow Toolbox (SIFT), a publicly available EEGLAB-compatible MATLAB-based toolbox for analysis and visualization of time- and frequency-dependent functional and effective connectivity in multivariate electrophysiological data, preferably following source reconstruction. Here, we will explore five of SIFT’s modules: (1) Data Preprocessing, (2) Model Fitting, Validation, and Connectivity Estimation, (3) Statistical Analysis, (4) Visualization, and (5) Simulation.

Rebecca Saxe (CV)  
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts, USA
Title: Thinking about thinking about thought – Neural mechanisms for understanding other minds