The Case of the Four Legged Duck

13 Jun 2007

Free lecture on Wednesday 20 June 2007

The Division of Development and Alumni Relations invite you to what promises to be a fascinating and interactive lecture, given by Professor Matthew Lambon Ralph from the School of Psychological Sciences on Wednesday 20 June at 5.30pm for 6.15pm entitled "Investigations of concepts and meaning: the case of the four legged duck".

Professor Lambon Ralph's team in the Neuroscience and Aphasia Research Unit have identified the part of the brain that forms and processes concepts. Working with patients with neurological damage who suffer a gradual breakdown in concepts in which the distinctions between different meanings (such as animals and birds) are gradually lost (and lead to intriguing blends, such as four legged ducks), the team have discovered that the brain's temporal lobe is critical in encoding concepts and storing meaning but other areas also play an important role. This suggests that a network of brain areas supports the use of concepts. Professor Lambon Ralph will demonstrate how using novel experimental methods and advances in neuroimaging and computational models can be used to reveal how this brain network stores and processes conceptual knowledge.

If you would like to book for this lecture or obtain further information, please contact:

• Alex McAlinden on 57893 or a.mcalinden@manchester.ac.uk