ILCB

Cerveau, intelligence artificielle et science ouverte
2026-04-02 17:30 - 19:30 (Europe/Paris) | IMéRA
Philippe Albouy, titulaire de la chaire ILCB/Iméra – Langage, communication et cerveau

Link : https://www.imera.fr/agenda/cerveau-ia-science-ouverte/

Seminars
2026-04-10 10:00 - 12:00 | Amphi 7 Université, 29 avenue Robert Schuman, Aix-en-Provence, 13100, France
Usha Goswami :Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge
Dyslexia, Rhythm, Language and the Developing Brain
Recent insights from auditory neuroscience provide a new perspective on how the brain encodes speech. Using these recent insights, I will provide an overview of key factors underpinning individual differences in children’s development of language and phonology, providing a context for exploring atypical reading development (dyslexia). Children with dyslexia are relatively insensitive to acoustic cues related to speech rhythm patterns. This lack of rhythmic sensitivity is related to the atypical neural encoding of rhythm patterns in speech by the brain. I will describe our recent data from infants as well as children, demonstrating developmental continuity in the key neural variables.

Martin Pickering : University of Edinburgh
An augmented psychology of language

Testing the neural noise hypothesis of dyslexia
2026-04-20 11:00 - 12:00 | Salle des voûtes, St Charles, 3 place Victor Hugo, Marseille, 13001, France
Dyslexia is a specific learning disorder affecting approximately 7–12% of the population and is more commonly diagnosed in males than in females. While several cognitive and neural factors associated with dyslexia have been identified, the precise causal mechanisms underlying reading difficulties remain unclear. One recent account, the neural noise hypothesis (Hancock et al., 2017), proposes that reading difficulties arise from an imbalance between excitatory and inhibitory (E/I) processes (increased cortical excitability) leading to impairments in phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, and multisensory integration.
I will present our studies which tested key predictions of this hypothesis. First, we examined whether low-level multisensory integration contributes to dyslexia and whether this effect is sex-specific. Next, we directly tested the neural noise hypothesis using electroencephalography (EEG) power spectrum measures and concentrations of Glutamate (Glu) and GABA obtained with magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) at 7T.
Only males with dyslexia exhibited deficits in multisensory integration of simple, non-linguistic stimuli, as assessed by a reaction time task. However, EEG and MRS results, supported by Bayesian analyses, provided no evidence for differences in E/I balance between groups, challenging the hypothesis that cortical hyperexcitability underlies dyslexia.

Bio
Katarzyna Jednoróg is a professor of cognitive neuroscience and head of the Laboratory of Language Neurobiology at the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw. Her research focuses on the neurobiological basis of language and reading development in both typical and atypical populations, with a particular emphasis on developmental dyslexia. She investigates how brain structure and function support literacy acquisition, using non-invasive neuroimaging methods such as EEG, fMRI, and magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

8th Annual Meeting of the Society for the Cognitive Science of Culture
2026-04-22 - 2026-04-24 | Théâtre Antoine Vitez, 29 Av. Robert Schuman, Aix-en-Provence, 13100, France
8thAnnual Meeting of the Society for the Cognitive Science of Culture. The Society aims to promote research into the role of culture on cognition, with a particular focus on extending research beyond WEIRD populations.
The meeting will take place from 22nd to 24th April 2026 at Aix-Marseille University in Aix-en-Provence, France.
This year, we are honoured to welcome four outstanding keynote speakers.
Prof. Usha Goswami, University of Cambridge
Brain Beats: Cognitive Science and Cognitive Neuroscience of Rhythmic Language
Prof. Helmut Leder, University of Vienna
Beauty as sensory pleasure?
Prof. Patrick Lemaire, Aix-Marseille University
Mathematics across cultures: What can we learn about the role of culture on cognition?
Dr. Daniele Schön, Aix-Marseille University
Music as window into language processing and rehabilitation
We invite abstract submissions for 20-minute talks and posters from the full spectrum of research interested in the relationship between cognition and culture in its many forms across domains including psychology, neuroscience, behaviour, linguistics and literature, visual art and music.
Please visit the submission website for further information: https://culturalcogsci.org/AnnualMeeting.html
Submission Deadline: January 31st 2026
Early bird registration: Until February 28th 2026
The SCSC 2026 Organizing Committee

dedicated to “Quantitative imaging and its applications.”
2026-05-04 | Amphithéâtre de CERIMED, 27 Boulevard Jean Moulin, Marseille, 13005

Integrating Neural Noise and Neuroinflammatory Hypotheses: Exploring the Comorbidity of Dyslexia, Depression, and Stress
2026-05-22 12:00 - 13:00 | Salle des voûtes, St Charles, 3 place Victor Hugo, Marseille, 13001, France
Fumiko Hoeft
Recent advancements in our understanding of dyslexia have highlighted the complex interplay between neurobiological mechanisms and comorbid conditions such as depression and stress. The Neural Noise Hypothesis (NNH) of dyslexia proposes that dysregulated neural activity, characterized by excessive glutamatergic neurotransmission, leads to the disrupted auditory and visual processing that typifies this learning disorder. Concurrently, emerging research suggests that these neural irregularities may overlap with pathways involved in stress and depression, pointing to a shared neurobiological foundation. This presentation explores the synthesis of the NNH with recent findings on the role of neuroinflammation in dyslexia and its comorbidities. Building on our foundational work (Hancock, Pugh, and Hoeft, TiCS. 2017), and integrating recent insights into stress and mood disorders from neuroimaging studies, we propose a model where dyslexia-related neural noise may exacerbate susceptibility to depression through neuroinflammatory pathways. This model is supported by recent research by Lasnick and Hoeft (Front Hum Neurosci. 2023), which provides compelling evidence of altered neural connectivity in regions critical for emotional and stress regulation in individuals with dyslexia. Furthermore, this talk will delve into how environmental stressors and individual resilience factors contribute to the variability in dyslexia presentations, particularly focusing on how these elements interact with neurobiological mechanisms to influence the severity and range of comorbid symptoms. By bridging gaps between disparate research domains, we aim to foster a more comprehensive understanding of dyslexia that acknowledges its potential as a multisystem disorder with significant neurobiological and psychosocial dimensions. This integrated approach sets the stage for discussing potential interventions that target these overlapping pathways, offering hope for more effective treatments that address both the core symptoms of dyslexia and its common comorbidities.

The evolution and social functions of human nonverbal vocalisations
2026-06-05 12:00 - 13:00 | B011 LPL, 5 avenue Pasteur, Aix-en-Provence, 13100, France
Dr. Katarzyna PISANSKI
Human nonverbal vocalisations such as screams, cries, and laughter convey socially vital information, yet have received far less attention than speech. We still know very little about how emotional vocalisations develop, how we use them in everyday life, or how they vary across cultures. While human vocalisations share important features with the calls of other mammals including primates, humans are unique in one crucial respect: we can flexibly and deliberately modulate our voices for social ends, for instance by exaggerating or completely faking pain or pleasure. In this talk, I argue that our advanced capacity for volitional vocal control represents a critical bridge between animal calls and human speech. I will present evidence that (1) the acoustic forms of human vocalisations have evolved to support their communicative functions; (2) voluntary vocalisations systematically exploit these same form–function mappings for social benefit; (3) data from children and deaf adults show that such vocal control depends on learning; and (4) cross-cultural findings reveal both universal patterns and culturally specific variation in emotional vocalisations. Together, this body of work shows that human vocalisations — and our capacity to produce them voluntarily — are powerful social tools shaped by both selection pressures and social experience, offering unique insights into the evolution of vocal control.

Spectacle
2026-09-16 18:00 - 20:00, 2026-09-17 18:00 | Friche la Belle de Mai — GMEM, 41 Rue Jobin, Marseille, 13003
