The neural architecture for language and other cognitive domains: an evolutionary perspective
Thursday, October 1, 2026, 9:00 – 10:45 am, Amphitheater D
An evolutionary perspective on language invites us to consider the cognitive architecture that permits the emergence of a language faculty, and how this emergent faculty is embedded within and interacts with its ancestral architecture. The symposium topic is inspired by the LoC's involvement in the Swiss-wide National Centre for Competence in Research Evolving Language, an interdisciplinary consortium dedicated to the past, present and future of language.
This moderated panel discussion is conceived as a platform to give space for a creative and inspiring interaction between diverse lines of research that examine the neural bases of language and communication through the lenses of non-linguistic cognitive systems (Prof. Sonja Kotz), comparative neuroanatomy (Dr. Yannick Becker) and comparative cognition (Prof. Richard Hahnloser). The moderator, Dr. Paul Middlebrooks, is an expert facilitator of scientific communication who will guide a dynamic and open-minded exchange seeking to tease out novel, under-represented and under-explored strands in the study of the neural bases of language.
Panelists
Yannick Becker
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Yannick Becker is a post-doctoral researcher in the Neurobiosocial Group and Lead of the Evolution sub-group at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
Richard Hahnloser
Institute of Neuroinformatics, ETH-Zurich
Richard Hahnloser is Full Professor at the Institute of Neuroinformatics, ETH-Zurich, Switzerland, where he heads the Birdsong and Natural Language Group.
Sonja Kotz
Maastricht University
Sonja Kotz is Chair of Neuropsychology and Translational Cognitive Neuroscience at the Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology at Maastricht University, the Netherlands.
Paul Middlebrooks
Carnegie Mellon University
Paul Middlebrooks is Special Faculty Research Associate at the Department of Biological Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University, USA. He produces Brain Inspired "a podcast where neuroscience and AI converge".
Sponsored by the NCCR Evolving Language.(opens in new tab)
