Episode 19 is very exciting as it brings Dr. Evelina Fedorenko to the show:
Evelina (Ev) Fedorenko is an Associate Professor in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and an Investigator in the McGovern Institute for Brain Research. She is also affiliated with the Harvard-MIT Program in Speech and Hearing in Bioscience and Technology. Prior to joining MIT, she spent 5 years as faculty at MGH and Harvard Medical School, supported by an NIH Pathway to Independence K99/R00 award. She received a Ph.D. in Cognitive Science from the MIT Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences in 2007 and an A.B. in Psychology and Linguistics from Harvard University in 2002.
Evelina (Ev) Fedorenko aims to understand how the language system works in the brain. Her lab is unpacking the internal architecture of the brain’s language system and exploring the relationship between language and various cognitive, perceptual, and motor systems. To do this, her lab employs a range of approaches, from brain imaging to computational modeling, and works with diverse populations, including polyglots and individuals with atypical brains. Language is a quintessential human ability, but the function that language serves has been debated for centuries. Fedorenko argues that language serves primarily as a tool for communication, contrary to a prominent view that language is essential for thinking.
Check out her paper “The language network as a natural kind within the broader landscape of the human brain”
